Kashmiri Pandit organisation files curative petition before Supreme Court seeking CBI/ NIA probe into 1990 massacre of Pandits

A Kashmiri Pandit organisation has moved the Supreme Court by way of a curative petition seeking probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the 1990 massacre of the Pandits in Kashmir.

The plea filed by Roots in Kashmir has challenged an order of the top court passed in 2017 dismissing a plea for probe into the violence.

The top court had on April 27, 2017 dismissed the plea saying “the instances referred in the petition pertain to the year 1989-90, and more than 27 years have passed by since then.”

Hence, no fruitful purpose would emerge, as the evidence is unlikely to be available at this late juncture.

The plea claimed that the Jammu & Kashmir Police has failed to investigate the crimes against terrorists and make any progress in the hundreds of FIRs before it, and the same should be handed over to the CBI or the NIA.

The plea has sought the following prayers:

• Investigation and prosecution of terrorists like Yasin Malik and Farooq Ahmed Daar @ Bitta Karate, Javed Nalka and others, for of murder of Kashmiri Pandits during 1989- 90, 1997 and 1998, and which are lying un-investigated by J&K Police even after expiry of 26 years;
• Transfer of investigation of all the FIR’s/cases of murder and other allied crimes against Kashmiri Pandits in year 1989-90, 1997 and 1998, to an independent investigating agency like CBI or NIA or any other agency;
• Transfer of all the FIR’s/cases pertaining to murders of Kashmiri Pandits, from State of J&K to some other State (preferably State of NCT of Delhi), so that the witnesses, who were reluctant to approach police or Courts in view of their safety concerns, can freely and fearlessly come and depose before Investigating agencies and Courts;
• Completion of trial and prosecution of Yasin Malik for gruesome murder of 4 officers of Indian Air Force on the morning of January 25, 1990, which is currently pending before CBI Court;
• Appointment of an independent committee or Commission to investigate into the mass murders and genocide of Kashmiri Pandits during 1989-90 and subsequent years, and also to investigate the reasons for non-prosecution of FIR’s of murders of Kashmiri Pandits and Court monitored-investigation so that the hundreds of FIR’s can reach their logical conclusion without any further delay.

The certificate for filing curative petition was issued by President, Supreme Court Bar Association, and former Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh.

A curative petition is the last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances. It is a remedy established by the Supreme Court through its judgment in Rupa Asok Hurra v Ashok Hurra and is decided by the judges in-chamber.

A certificate by a Senior Counsel is necessary for filing a curative petition.

Source : Daily Hunt