In a huge setback for the Kashmiri Pandits community, the Supreme Court has dismissed the curative plea filed by Roots In Kashmir, a prominent organization representing the community, seeking a probe into the 1989-90 genocide aimed at ethnic cleansing which has triggered a mass exodus of the community members from the valley and for sending the perpetrators and killers to jail.
The four line order passed by a three-judge bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abdul Nazeer after “in-chamber” hearing on November 22 and uploaded on SC website today said: We have gone through the Curative Petition and the connected documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this Court in Rupa Ashok Hurra v Ashok Hurra. The Curative Petition is dismissed.
Roots In Kashmir, in the curative petition filed through its Managing Trustee Amit Raina, challenged dismissal of their review petition by the court in July 2017. This was the last legal remedy available to the Pandits.
On July 24, 2017 a bench led by then Chief Justice J S Khehar had dismissed the review petition filed by Pandits on the ground that “incidents referred to in the petition pertained to 1989-90 and more than 27 years have passed since then. No fruitful purpose would be served as there will not be any evidence at this late juncture”.
What did the Kashmiri Pandits argue?
But pandits argued that just a month later on August 21, 2017, the same Supreme Court reopened and ordered further investigation into 241 cases closed by the SIT pertaining to the anti sikh riots which had occurred 33 yrs ago.
On one hand the court refuses to order investigation citing delay of 27 years but in another case a reinvestigation is ordered even after 33 years and therefore this amounts to discrimination, they argued in the curative petition.
‘No limitation period in crimes against humanity’
“Dismissal of our review on ground that no evidence will be available after 27 years passed by is contrary to the settled position of law that in crimes against humanity and crimes which shock the conscience of the society there is no limitation period. Not a single FIR out of 258 was investigated by the State of Jammu & Kashmir.By saying that no evidence is available now, the court is giving liberty to police officers and authorities not to investigate at all. It is the duty of the police to say there is no evidence and file a closure report, and not of the court,” argues Amit Raina
