NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed the criminal proceedings against 30 Army personnel accused of killing 13 civilians (tribals) in a 2021 botched-up military operation to ambush militants in Nagaland’s Mon district.In its order, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale clarified and pointed out that the case may be taken to its logical end, if the Centre sanctions its prosecution against the Army personnel.The top court refused to consider the parties’ submissions, considering that Section 6 the AFSPA bars any prosecution, suit, or other legal proceedings except with the previous sanction of the Centre. “The interim order, granted by the order of July 19, 2022, deserves to be made absolute, and the proceedings arising from the impugned FIRS deserve to be quashed,” the bench observed.As per the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the Union government’s approval is mandatory to initiate the proceedings against security personnel for actions discharged in the service of duty.While setting aside the criminal case and proceedings, the bench said the order will not prevent the Army from taking any disciplinary action against the personnel.In last April, the Central government in its order had denied the requisite sanction to prosecute these Army men.Challenging the Centre’s order, the Nagaland state government had moved the apex court against this denial of sanction to prosecute the Army personnel. It filed a separate petition in the top court, in which notice has been issued by a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.
Source link
