‘Human rights panel can’t probe army in conflict areas’

NEW DELHI : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) cannot investigate alleged excesses by armed forces in militancy-affected areas such as Manipur and Jammu

NEW DELHI : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) cannot investigate alleged excesses by armed forces in militancy-affected areas such as Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir as the panel is only a recommendatory body, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

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Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi also turned down the NHRC’s offer to probe more than 1,500 alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur and said even the top court cannot “transplant” any powers on the panel.

“It amounts to judicial legislation and will have a deleterious effect on the Army fighting against all odds in difficult terrain,” Rohatgi told a bench of justices MB Loukur and UU Lalit.

In July, the court had held that the alleged extra-judicial killings by Army and Manipur police required a thorough probe. However, there was no decision which agency will conduct the probe.

Activists have long been demanding scrapping of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, enforced in parts of the Northeast and Kashmir, alleging rampant human rights violations by security forces under the immunity granted to them by the law.

NHRC counsel Gopal Subramanium said: “If there are abrogation of human rights, then accountability has to be fixed on the erring personnel. Here there is no accountability”. In Manipur, it took three years to get information regarding a case of alleged human rights violation. NHRC is a responsible fact-finding body. No government can say it is not accountable for violation of human rights,” he added.

But Rohatgi opposed, saying the army will conduct its own inquiry against those named in the cases. He said security personnel have to act “in a particular way” on the Line of Control (LoC) or during an insurgent operation.

The bench, however, said it was referring to “heart of the cities like Imphal” and not the LoC. “Public order needs to be followed,” it said.

On the NHRC’s powers, the law officer asserted it can only make recommendations and the Centre or states bound to place them and its annual reports before the Parliament or legislature. “No question of recommendations (NHRC) being binding,” Rohatgi said.