The law seems to protect stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir while working against Armed Forces personnel who brave the stones, two young daughters of Army officers told the Supreme Court on Monday.
Kajal Mishra (20) and Preeti Kedar Gokhale (19), said it looked like the law has thrown its protective cloak around the stone-pelters while Army personnel who retaliate or act in self-defence against the mobs are booked for crimes. In short, the petitioners told the court that the Armed Forces personnel are meant to simply shrug off the rocks thrown at them by unruly mobs and move on.
“FIRs are filed against soldiers if they take action in retaliation or in self-defence against the perpetrators of stone-pelting... no similar action is taken against the perpetrators of violence against the Armed Forces personnel,” the petitioners pointed out.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi admitted the petition, represented by senior advocate Meenakshi Arora and Neela Gokhale, and sought a response from the Union of India, Ministry of Defence, the National Human Rights Commission and the Jammu and Kashmir government.
The young women drew the court’s attention to a declaration made by the former Chief Minister of J&K, on February 2 last year, about the withdrawal of 9,760 FIRs filed against stone-pelters on the ground that they were “first-time offenders”. The petition said the announcement by the former CM was “shocking” as the law does not even allow the State to withdraw an FIR once it is registered without due process of law.
The petition contains specific instances when heavy stone-pelting by mobs was orchestrated to distract Armed Forces personnel during counter-insurgency operations in areas like Shopian and Pulwama. The petition highlighted that the Army personnel is deprived of any avenue or mechanism to prosecute a person who has committed an offence against him or obstructed him from doing his duty.
“There is no mechanism put in place, either by the Centre or the State, to deal with such brazen acts of human rights violation of the forces. The Armed Forces personnel is deployed in these disturbed areas to discharge their duties. It is necessary to put in place a mechanism to deal with and enforce the security of the Forces,” the petition said. The petitioners said the absence of such a mechanism is itself a violation of their fundamental rights.
The petition said 759 incidents of stone-pelting were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018 as per the report given by Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir in the Rajya Sabha on December 12 last year.