Over 40 years after the ‘Samba Spy’ scandal hit the Army, the Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on a petition seeking to declassify, and put in public domain, all the related official documents.
The ‘Samba Spy’ scandal began with the arrest of two soldiers — Gunner Swaran Das and Gunner Aya Singh — in May 1975. They had confessed to spying for Pakistan and later implicated several other Army personnel of espionage activities.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by former Captains, Ashok Kumar Rana of 7 Jat Regiment and Ranbir Singh Rathaur of 11 Garhwal Rifles, both of whom were indicted for spying for Pakistan during their posting in Samba sector of Jammu.
Forced to confess
Captain Rana and Captain Rathaur were convicted by the General Court Martial and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in 1980 and 1979 respectively. Both contended that they were forced to confess of spying for Pakistan under continuous torture and heavy threat of being killed.
Their petition, filed by advocate Pranav Sachdeva, said they tried every legal recourse available to prove their innocence but all to no avail as the materials of the charges and subsequent court martial proceedings against them were never properly and fully disclosed either to them or to the court.
The plea said the “falsely” Army officers had made a representation to the then Prime Minister, based on which a joint enquiry team was formed.
The team comprised representatives of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and Jammu & Kashmir Police. It was headed by the then Deputy Director of IB, V.K. Kaul.
The petition stated that the team “came to the unanimous conclusion that the ‘Samba Spy’ case built up by the Army authorities was totally suspect and there was very little substantial evidence to support the accusations”.
Mr. Sachdeva claimed that the joint enquiry team’s report was never shared with the High Court or the Supreme Court when they were hearing appeals filed by several indicted officers, including Captain Rana and Captain Rathaur.
The petition further stated that the Centre was advised by the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the Army that no sufficient evidence is available and it would be difficult for the government to justify its actions in the court.
“This opinion was annexed to the government’s petition before the Supreme Court but the said pages were allowed to be withdrawn,” the plea said.
Mr. Sachdeva argued that his clients have a right to access the documents on the basis of which they have been defamed and their reputation tarnished. He said the government cannot take the shield of the Official Secrets Act for not declassifying the documents.
He said the ‘Samba Spy’ scandal happened during 1975-1977 and more than 40 years have passed since then.
Hence, it was time to declassify the documents.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru noted the petitioner’s contention regarding how long the documents can be kept classified. The judge asked the Centre to respond to the question raised in the plea regarding declassification of the files.
Advocate Sachdeva argued that all major democracies, including the United State of America and several European countries, declassify documents after passage of a specified time or a specified event.