SC to hear plea of Army men challenging prosecution in AFSPA areas

The Supreme Court today said that it will hear on September 4, a plea by over 300 Army personnel challenging registration of FIRs against them for operations in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir where the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) is in force.

The petition came up for hearing before a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta and the court said the matter has to be heard by the bench which had passed an order in this regard last year.

"It has to go before the same bench," Justice Lokur said.

Justice Lokur said that he, along with Justice U U Lalit, had passed the order last year and the matter has to go before the same bench.

The court had on July 14 last year constituted the SIT and ordered lodging of FIRs and probe into as many as 1,528 cases of alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur.

Meanwhile, the bench said that two separate petitions related to Manipur fake encounter cases will be heard on September 4.

The main petition said Army personnel were being "persecuted" and proceeded against for performing duties in such disturbed areas.

The filing of the plea by serving Army officers assumed significance as the CBI's SIT has recently filed charge sheets in two separate encounter cases in Manipur against armed forces in which murder charges have been slapped.

The SIT was constituted by the apex court while hearing a matter related to alleged fake encounters by the Army, the Assam Rifles and the state police in Manipur.