SC notice to Centre and J&K government on safety of Armymen

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir government for a direction for protection of human rights of security force personnel, who are being attacked by mobs while performing duties. A Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued notice after hearing senior advocate Meenakshi Arora and advocate Neela Gokhale for the petitioners, Ms Kajal Mishra and Ms Preeti Kedar Gokhale, who are daughters of Army personnel.

The petitioners submitted that they are aggrieved and dissatisfied by the substantial inaction of the Centre and the state government in addressing the various acts of human right violations of the members of the Armed Forces, from the perpetrators of violence within the state, resulting in obstruction in the discharge of their duty as well as danger to the safety and security of these Army personnel at the place of their deployment.

They are further disturbed by the troops in the Indian Army, having to suffer the ire of stone-pelters, while they are discharging their duty of maintaining peace and security in the area of their deployment. More often than not, there are FIRs filed against these troops and soldiers, if they take any action in retaliation or in self-defence, against the perpetrators of stone-pelting.

The petitioners have no grievance to any Complaint/FIR being filed against any Armed Forces personnel, for any act, which amounts to any criminal offence under the law for the time being in force. However, they are very much aggrieved by the fact that no similar action is taken against the perpetrators of violence, against the armed forces personnel. In fact it is shocking to note that the former chief minister of the State of J&K, in the legislative assembly declared that as many as 9760 FIRs registered against the stone pelters shall be withdrawn as they were first time offenders.