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| Army disowns him, Govt is unaware of his whereabouts | | Is Major Avtaar Singh dead? | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 27: On Jalil Andrabi's fourteenth death anniversary, the firebrand lawyer's friends and relatives have urged the Interpol to implement a warrant of arrest issued by a Srinagar court. The court has urged the Interpol to arrest Major Avtaar Singh who is accused of subjecting Jalil to extra-judicial execution.
Nobody knows for sure about erring Major's whereabouts. Last year his relatives were told that Major had died. However, the news of his death had no affect on the proceedings in Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) at Srinagar. Legal experts believe the proceedings can be dropped if Major's death certificate is produced in the court. Since no such document was produced, the Court issued an arrest warrant seeking arrest of the erring Major by the Interpol.
Jalil's case has brought the helplessness of the judiciary to the fore. The former Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Budgam, who heard the case before the case got transferred after delimitation during Ghulam Nabi Azad's regime, expressed his helplessness in the court room. He commented: "The relatives of Jalil Andrabi are justified in casting aspersions on the judiciary for its failure to dispense justice." The learned but helpless magistrate had been seeking Avtaar Singh's presence in the court since April 30, 2005.
Soon after Jalil's death on March 27, 1996, the Bar Association filed a petition in the high court. The court appointed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the death. The SIT identified an army Major posted in the Rawalpora Camp of the 103 Territorial Army as prima facie responsible for the death in 1997. However, the army representatives told the High Court that the Major was not employed by the army any longer and that he had not committed the offence in his official capacity.
The Special Investigating Team filed a detailed charge sheet against the Major. The team informed the court that the accused was working with the Railway Regiment of the Territorial Army located at Ludhiana, Punjab. Despite having this information about his whereabouts, no attempt was made to arrest him.
Meanwhile, Jalil's relatives came to know that Avtaar Singh had fled to Canada and was living a luxurious life there. The lawyers contacted some human rights defenders based in Canada. Details about Avtaar Singh were sent to them and they impressed upon the government of Canada to take appropriate measures. Sensing trouble, a team from India went to Canada and assured the Canadian government that New Delhi would seek his extradition soon. This information was shared by the Canadian friends with Jalil's lawyers. Several years have passed but the process of extradition has not been initiated.
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