SC declines plea for SIT probe into Indian army's role in Sri Lanka

The court said it is not equipped to go into the issues which have different ramifications and political shades

The Supreme Court Thursday declined to entertain a plea for a Special Investigative Team (SIT) probe into the alleged "clandestine" role of the Indian Army in the Sri Lankan government's 2008-2009 operation against the rebel Tamil organisation LTTE.

"There are issues which are absolutely beyond the domain of the court and this is one of them," said a bench of Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice Kurian Joseph as it dismissed the plea.

Asking the petitioner, advocate V. Ram Sankar to approach the competent authorities, the court asked him "not to bring the court in this arena. What can we do".

"This is not a matter of judicial review. Absolutely not. How such an issue can be gone into?" Justice Lodha said as Sankar persisted with his plea for a court-monitored SIT probe.

Expressing its ability to entertain the plea from any angle, the court said: "Court is not equipped to go into the issues which have different ramifications and political shades."

Declining the plea, it said: "This is not a fit case for judicial review and writ petition is dismissed." The petition was later withdrawn.

Sankar, who is secretary of Delhi Tamil Advocate Association, in his petition sought the SIT probe into "clandestine method in which government of India has been collaborating with, aiding and abetting the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces against the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka in 2008 and 2009", resulting in the loss of life of 40,000 Tamilian and other innocent people.

The petitioner advocate claimed that he went to Sri Lanka and was told by several alleged victims about the participation of the Indian Army in of the Sri Lankan Army's operations against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

He said to back his contention he relied on the reports of several inquiry committees, including Independent International Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Secretary General and the Permanent People's Tribunals on Sri Lanka.