Srinagar: A local court Friday directed the Army to furnish a copy of the judgement along with CBI chargesheet regarding its decision to close 2000 Pathribal fake encounter.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar Verinder Singh Bahu issued the order after hearing an application, filed on behalf of Nazir Ahmad Dalal, maternal uncle of Zahoor Ahmad Dalal, who was one of the victims of the fake encounter.
“Contentions raised are genuine and well founded and are bracketed with the principles of fair trial and natural justice,” the court said after hearing advocate Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, General Secretary of Kashmir High Court Bar Association.
“It is therefore, deemed expedient to direct Brigadier Adjutant to reply this motion on in the alternative furnish copies of the judgment alongwith copies of chargesheet and documents annexed therewith before the next date,” the court said and posted the case for further hearings, Bhat told Kashmir Reader.
The CJM said the documents will form part of the information rendered to the court in the case which was furnished to the court pursuant to conclusion of General Court Martial (GCM) proceedings by the “competent military authority.”
Five civilians were killed in a fake encounter on March 26, 2000 at Pathribal in South Kashmir with the victims being branded by Army as foreign militants.
In 2006, India’s premier investigation agency, the CBI, indicted Brig Ajay Saxena, Lt. Col. Brajendra Pratap Singh, Maj. Sourabh Sharma, Maj. Amit Saxena and Subedar Idrees Khan for the cold-blood murder of the five civilians at Pathribal.
However, last week on January 20, the Army informed Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar via communication that no prima facie case was made against its accused men following a court martial by it.
In his application, Nazir had said that the challan was produced by the CBI Special Branch Chandigarh before the CJM Srinagar against the Army officials. The court had handed over the challan to the concerned Army officials for court martial in view of the direction of the Supreme Court, the applicant said.
He said the court martial has closed the case of the CBI and only a letter has been forwarded to CJM Srinagar for Information.
“It is mentioned that the challan is closed as no prima-facie case is made against the accused, but no detailed judgment has been produced before this court which was mandatory for the court martial,” Nazir said in the application.
“The family members of the civilians who were killed in the fake encounter are not able to approach the Army court or the CBI Special Branch Chandigarh for obtaining the copy of detailed judgment and also the copy of the challan,” he had said.
Nazir said the victims’ kin were interested to agitate the matter before the J&K High Court. Therefore, he said, all records pertaining to the case are to be furnished to the applicant for seeking the appropriate remedy.

Reader correspondent