AFSPA Dilution: Supreme Court Dismisses Petition of 350 Army Personnel

New Delhi, November 30: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by 350 Indian Army soldiers and Manipur police commandoes challenging its earlier verdict of allowing a probe into alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur and against dilution of Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA). Earlier in August, the army personnel moved apex court. The soldiers raised concern that the dilution of the act could jeopardise the efficiency of Counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir and other insurgency-affected areas.

The Centre supported the pleas before a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit against the lodging of FIRs against members of the armed forces in AFSPA-enforced areas. "There has to be a mechanism where hands of our soldiers are not shaken while fighting terrorism," said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. To this, the bench asked him as to who was stopping the Centre from coming out with a mechanism. "Who has stopped you from coming out with a mechanism. These are issues for you to discuss and not for the court," the bench said. Smart Phone & Social Media Advisory for Indian Soldiers! AI Can be Used in Our Favour Says Army Chief General Bipin Rawat

Earlier in September Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat also questioned the need of serving army soldiers filing cases in their individual capacity in the Supreme Court against the dilution of the AFSPA. In August, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked an Indian Army Major Vijay Singh Balhara, along with five riflemen and two Manipur police personnel in a nine-year-old alleged fake encounter case.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 30, 2018 06:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).