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Synopsis

The Supreme Court today stayed proceedings initiated against 30 army personnel in connection with the killing of 14 civilians in Nagaland's Mon district in December 2021.

A division bench of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice V Ramasubramanian was hearing two pleas, one of which was filed by Anjali Gupta, wife of Major Ankush Gupta, one of the army officers booked by the Nagaland Police.

Gupta sought quashing of the FIR, the findings and recommendations of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the State government, and all other ancillary proceedings arising out of the incident including the complaint filed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

While staying the proceedings, Court further remarked that no investigation had been conducted into the “death of a paratrooper during the conflict.”

In the said incident, the Army’s counter-insurgency unit had opened fire at civilians mistaking them for militants, following an intelligence tip-off on the likely movement of militants. Those fired on were residents of Oting village returning home in a pick-up van after work at a coal mine.

Court was informed that the accused officials were only performing their bonafide duties as directed by the Union of India, but the SIT so constituted acted in a complete arbitrary, unilateral and illegal manner, by picking and choosing the evidence available before it to appease the public outcry and to assuage the concerns of the chosen few.

As per the plea, SIT and state functionaries allegedly turned a blind eye to the safety of the accused and their family members by revealing their personal information and intelligence received by the accused army men was not taken cognizance of.

The petitioner further contended that SIT attributed criminality to the accused ‘in its zest’ to conclude the probe and appease a section of society on the basis of a ‘lopsided investigation’.