The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed criminal proceedings against 30 Indian Army personnel accused of killing 13 civilians during a military operation in Nagaland in 2021, reported the Hindustan Times.
If the Centre grants sanction to prosecute them, the case could proceed to its logical conclusion, said a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale.
The Union government’s approval is required to initiate proceedings against security personnel for actions discharged in the service of duty, as per the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
The law gives Army personnel in “disturbed areas” sweeping powers to search, arrest, and open fire if they deem it necessary for “the maintenance of public order”.
On the evening of December 4, 2021, the Army’s 21 Para Special Force opened fire at a pick-up van carrying coal miners from Tiru to Oting village in Mon district, killing six on board.
They had allegedly mistaken the group of workers for insurgents. A crowd of protestors responded by setting fire to Army vehicles. The soldiers opened fire again, killing seven more civilians.
On Tuesday, the court said its order would not prevent the Army from taking disciplinary action against the personnel.
The Nagaland Police, in its chargesheet, has said that “indiscriminate and disproportionate firing” by the operations team of 21 Para Special Force led to the immediate death of six civilians and caused grievous injuries to two more.
The Centre has denied sanction to prosecute the accused Army officers.
In July 2022, the Supreme Court stayed criminal proceedings against 30 Army personnel involved in the case, saying that the state police did not obtain the Centre’s permission in the case.
It passed the order on a plea by the wives of some of the Army men who had approached the court demanding that the first information report against their husbands be quashed.
The Nagaland government has challenged the Centre’s refusal to allow the officers to be prosecuted.
On July 15, the court sought the Centre’s response on the state government’s plea.
A Court of Inquiry by the Army in 2022 had concluded that the killings were “a case of mistaken identity and error of judgement”.
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