HC refrains from hearing plea for probe into ISIS' killings of 39 Indians

The Delhi High Court today refrained from hearing a plea for "detailed investigation" into alleged lapses of the Union government, leading to the killings of 39 Indians by terror outfit ISIS after their abduction from Mosul in Iraq in 2014.

An application for "detailed investigation" into the alleged lapses of the government was filed by a lawyer, who earlier in 2015 had moved the court challenging a look out circular issued against him to prevent him and his delegation from going to Iraq.

He claimed in his application to Justice Rajiv Shakdher that the reason he was stopped from travelling to Iraq was to ensure that he did not find out about the fate of the 39 Indians, whose bodies were recently exhumed from a mass grave in Badosh, a village near Mosul, and brought back.

The lawyer, Mehmood Pracha, alleged that the 39 Indians died due to lapses on the part of the Indian government.

He claimed had his delegation been allowed to go to Iraq, they would have urged the Iraqi government to secure the release of the hostages by any means.

Pracha's application claims that 46 nurses abducted during the same period were released due to intervention of the Iraqi government.

The lawyer's plea was opposed by advocate Manik Dogra, who, appearing for the government, said the application was akin to a Public Interest Litigation and not maintainable.

Following Dogra's submission, the court asked Pracha to withdraw his application and file a fresh petition if he wanted the deaths to be investigated.

The application was subsequently withdrawn by the lawyer with the liberty to file a fresh one.