Sc To List Norms For Anti-Insurgency Operations

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court is set to lay down rules regarding the use of the army to curb terrorism and insurgency, especially in the seven north-east states.

The bench consists of Chief Justice J S Verma, Justice M M Punchhi, Justice S C Agrawal, Justice A S Anand and Justice S P Bharucha. For the past 10 days, the court has been hearing the arguments of human rights groups, led by the Naga People's Movement for Human Rights, and the reply by Attorney-General Ashok Desai. The hearing is scheduled to conclude next week.

The human rights groups have argued that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is being used indiscriminately in the troubled north-east.

Regions within these states are declared 'disturbed areas' under the Act and handed over to the army, which runs amuck. There are no guidelines on the use of this power. 'Virtual military rule has been perpetuated by repeated issuance of disturbed areas notifications,'' argued counsel.

The human rights groups also contended that atrocities committed by the men in uniform have made a mockery of the fundamental rights of ordinary people.

The Attorney General justified the use of the armed forces by arguing that insurgency conditions exist in the border districts of these states. Some districts have international borders with three or more countries. This makes it difficult to check foreign infiltration.

Desai asserted that the state governments cannot deal with such situations with their police and civil powers. In fact, the state governments have been insisting that the Centre should help them. The Centre has not imposed itself on the state governments, nor have the states ever complained that the military was there against their wishes, said Desai.

The Attorney-General added that even if state governments do not seek Central help, the Union government has a duty to protect the country's borders. It is a Constitutional duty which cannot be shirked, irrespective of the attitude of the states, he argued.

Counsel further clarified that the Centre has issued a code of conduct to govern how military personnel deal with civilians. However, army personnel are sometimes forced to use arms in self-defence, as they are fired at. Soldiers cannot wait for a magistrate's order before acting in self-defence or blowing up an insurgents' arms dump, explained Desai.