300
Army Personnel Move SC Against Prosecution says the
headline in The Hindu on the Nation’s 72nd Independence Day. Since
last evening this unprecedented event has dominated prime time on all major
news channels. And quite understandably, since our soldiers are known more for
the stoic dedication with which they serve rather than for petitioning the judiciary
on operational issues. Similarly, the Army Headquarters limits itself to
presenting views to the Ministry of Defence rather than approaching the
judicial system over the heads of this Ministry. Discussion on news channels
and newspapers has been restricted to the challenging conditions and scenarios
in internal security operations and the legal safeguards available to soldiers
under the AFSPA. I have no issue with this and fully endorse the extremely
important and very valid points raised in the petition; however, a very vital
and equally significant aspect of this unique event has so far been left out of
the discussions. It is this that I intend to address in this short article.
To any soldier, indeed even to an informed lay observer,
a very noteworthy aspect is the fact that over 300 soldiers have approached the
Supreme Court in their personal
capacities on an operational matter. These are serving officers, JCOs and
NCOs who are Commanding battalions, companies, platoons and sections in diverse
and widely separated areas and for so many of them to have got together,
formulated a joint view and thereafter decided to hire an advocate and petition
the Supreme Court is, to say the least, both remarkable and extraordinary. It
just could not have happened without the silent and tacit concurrence of their
senior leadership from their brigade commanders upwards and extending right up
to the Army HQ. When one considers the total silence of the Army HQ and the
Ministry of Defence, the conviction that they were aware and are quite
comfortable with it is reinforced. Rebublic TV had broken the story on 13 Dec,
a day before the petition was actually filed and this only reinforces the
belief. There are, therefore, three remarkable firsts in this episode- first,
serving soldiers approaching the Supreme Court directly in their personal
capacities on an operational matter; second, over 300 of them doing so in a
collective and well coordinated manner; and third, the abdication by the Army
HQ of its responsibility towards soldiers of protecting their interests and
doing all that needs to be done with the Government or in the courts towards
achieving this end.
The Army has so far never hesitated in forcefully
representing the best interests of its men in cases arising out performance of
their duties in internal security operations. This includes defending cases at
various levels of the judiciary and at the NHRC; nor has there been any
hesitation in moving higher courts right up to the Supreme Court when adverse
judgements have been delivered by lower courts. Over the years a very robust
system has been developed in the Army towards this- the Adjutant General’s
Branch and the Judge Advocate General’s Branch at the Army HQ have large
establishments charged with this responsibility. These branches are represented
right down to brigade HQ level and there are also HR (Human Rights) staff
officers at all formation HQ operating in internal security operational areas
to monitor all such cases and aspects and render related advice to formation
commanders.
Despite this considerable wherewithal, the decision to
abdicate a command responsibility and let individual soldiers fight their own
battles at the Supreme Court does not quite jell. It seems that the wider and
long term implications of the decision have either not been fully appreciated
or it had been decided to proceed nonetheless. And this leads to the nagging
suspicion that there is strong possibility of the Ministry of Defence, and by
extension the political leadership, being very much complicit in giving a
silent go ahead to the petitioner officers and men.
