SC moved on Indian role in Sri Lanka war

A Malaysia-based Tamil lawyer has moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into reports that India allegedly helped Sri Lanka crush the LTTE in a war that left some 40,000 Tamils dead.

A Malaysia-based Tamil lawyer has moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into reports that India allegedly helped Sri Lanka crush the LTTE in a war that left some 40,000 Tamils dead.

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The public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by solicitor and advocates firm Meharia and Co on behalf of advocate A. Kanesalingam, a Tamil of Sri Lankan origin.

Kanesalingam urged the court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe should study the "extent of collaboration" between New Delhi and Colombo in the latter's war against the Tamil Tigers.

The CBI was under a "duty to investigate any complaint that there was collaboration between the two governments in a war which (saw) mass killings of civilians", he contended.

A note circulated by counsel Khushbu Jain, representing Kanesalingam, said an independent panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon found credible evidence that 40,000 civilians were killed by the Sri Lankan military during the final stages of the war in 2009.

The deaths reportedly took place between January and May 2009 in the Sri Lankan district of Mullaithivu.

The PIL sought directions for the CBI to submit its finding within four months.

The petitioner contended that under the Indian Penal Code, "a person residing in India who commits a crime outside India can be charged and tried in India".