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Supreme Court asks Centre to pursue missing soldier’s case with Pakistan
The officer – Captain Sanjit Bhattacharjee, who was commissioned in Gorkha Rifles in August 1992, had gone missing in April 1997 along with Lance Naik Ram Bahadur Thapa. Sanjit’s mother Kamla Bhattacharjee had approached the Supreme Court last year, seeking direction from the Centre to inform about her son’s whereabouts.
The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Centre to pursue with Pakistan the case of a missing Army captain who mysteriously disappeared while patrolling at the Indo-Pak border in Rann of Kutch in April 1997.
The officer – Captain Sanjit Bhattacharjee, who was commissioned in Gorkha Rifles in August 1992, had gone missing in April 1997 along with Lance Naik Ram Bahadur Thapa. Sanjit’s mother Kamla Bhattacharjee had approached the top court last year, seeking direction from the Centre to inform about her son’s whereabouts.
On Thursday, the bench of Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala said, “We impress upon the Union government for pursuing the matter with the concerned authorities. The petitioner may be periodically apprised of further steps taken in the matter, preferably every quarter.”
The bench termed it “unfortunate” that for 25 years, the fate of the two persons was not known. The petitioner, represented by advocate Saurabh Mishra, claimed that as per information received from senior army officials, Sanjit Bhattacharjee is lodged at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
However, the Centre, represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) KM Nataraj, informed the Court that the Indian government had communicated with the Pakistan government through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. ASG Nataraj said that Pakistan is yet to acknowledge the presence of this officer in their jail.
In May last year, the Centre filed an affidavit in response to the present petition presenting to the Court a list of 83 prisoners of war (PoW) who are believed to be in Pakistani jails. Sanjit Bhattacharjee’s name figured in that list.
But the petitioner told the Court that over the years, there have been no serious effort by the Indian government to provide the whereabouts of the missing officer. Mishra urged the Court to form a committee of any retired judge or Army chief to monitor the release of such PoWs and referred to a March 2011 judgment by the top court making a humanitarian appeal to release another Indian prisoner Gopal Das who was serving a life sentence in a Pakistan jail over espionage charges.
A month later, in April 2011, Das was released by Pakistan after then Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari considered India’s request on humanitarian grounds and granted clemency after Das spent nearly 27 years behind bars.
The bench told Mishra, “In that case, there was an identifiable person undergoing sentence. But there is no trace of this person here.”
ASG Nataraj told the Court that India was concerned about its officers and was taking steps to trace the petitioner.
Bhattacharjee was part of a platoon comprising 17 persons patrolling the Indo-Pak border in the Rann of Kutch on April 19, 1997, the day they went missing. The bench remarked, “If there is an ambush, one can understand. But if without ambush, out of 17 persons, if two persons disappear, will you not question the remaining 15 as to what happened?”
In 2005, the petitioner received a letter from President of India APJ Abdul Kalam expressing regret at her son’s missing. Five years later, the army informed the missing Captain’s mother that they were still making efforts to trace her son.
The bench told ASG Nataraj, “You have assumed them to be dead. Nobody has taken up the case of the missing Lance Naik too. If they are alive, that’s the worst.”
The officer’s mother, in her petition, said, “The petitioner’s son has been deprived of his fundamental right under Article 21 i.e. right to protection of life and personal liberty, which has been described as the heart of fundamental rights.” She claimed that a radio intercept by the Indian Army the same year that he went missing revealed that her son was found by some Pakistani fishermen. They handed him over to Pakistan Rangers who subsequently gave his custody to the Pakistan Army.
