A Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) has convicted seven personnel, including one officer of the rank of Major General (who was holding the rank of Colonel at the time of the incident) and has awarded the punishment of dismissal from service and life imprisonment.
A detailed report has been published by The Tribune.
In the opinion of this author, the correct course would have been to allow a regular Court to try the offenders since the Army Act prescribes a limitation of 3 years for a trial by Court Martial. It is not known as to how the Court Martial has been able to tide over the statutorily provided limitation.
Notwithstanding the above, the punishment once again proves that law has to prevail equally for all, irrespective of rank, and nobody can get away with such grave crimes under the garb of performing duty.
The Statesman has this editorial on the case: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/3-army-officers-4-jcos-court-martialled-after-24-years-of-fake-encounter/articleshow/66205541.cms. "Nirmala Sitharaman and the Army Chief now have a balancing act to perform. They have to keep high the morale of the troops fighting insurgents, but must also honour the larger message sent out by the conviction of the officers and soldiers. All this when the government claims a special focus on the North-east and needs to script a new narrative to end the alienation that results from using military force against its own people."
ReplyDelete