As a result of the Supreme Court’s 2017 decision rejecting a plea for an investigation into the “mass murders and genocide” committed by Pakistan-backed terrorists during 1989-90 and subsequent years and the “reasons for not prosecuting FIRs” of these crimes, an organization of Kashmiri Pandits filed a curative petition.
The Curative Petition and related documents have been reviewed. No case is made out within the parameters in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs Ashok Hurra”, said a bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justices S K Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer rejecting Roots in Kashmir’s plea.
To give those whose grievances weren’t addressed in the review petition another chance to get justice, the SC developed the concept of the Curative Petition in the Hurra case.
According to the SC, 27 years have passed since the Kashmir Valley events unfolded and evidence “is unlikely to be available”. A petition seeking a review of the top court’s order was rejected in October 2017.
A Curative Petition was filed by Roots in Kashmir, arguing that the SC shouldn’t have dismissed the writ petition at the admission stage just because evidence was unavailable because of time’s passage. In light of the fact that the Court has entertained and passed necessary directions for trial in cases where the incident goes back more than 30 years, it said this amounts to failure of justice or gross miscarriage of justice.
Despite a 33-year lapse, the court took cognisance of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
According to the petition, the Delhi High Court ruled that the killings of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in November 1983 were crimes against humanity. We’re going to be shocked by them for a long time. While it’s undeniable that it’s taken over three decades to bring the accused in this case to justice, and that our criminal justice system stood the test in that process, it’s important to be able to call out those who committed such mass crimes in a democracy governed by the Rule of Law. We need to reassure those countless victims waiting patiently that truth will prevail and justice will be served.”
In Japani Sahoo vs. Chandra Sekhar Mohanty, the SC said that “a crime never dies”, which is “contrary” to what the plea said. It added that the SC didn’t take into account that over 700 Kashmiri Pandits were murdered between 1989 and 1998 and FIRs were lodged in over 200 cases, but not even one has been prosecuted or convicted.
