Mon incident: Supreme Court closed criminal case against 30 army personnel, 13 civilians died

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has closed the case of the death of 13 civilians in Mon district of Nagaland in 2021. Cases were registered against 30 army personnel in this incident, which has now been closed by the country’s top court. The court said that the Center had refused to give permission. This is mandatory before taking action against army personnel under Section 6 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale said that since permission was denied since February last year, the FIR registered against the personnel cannot stand and they have also refused to give any direction for departmental action against them.Why did the case have to be closed?
The Supreme Court said that proceedings as per the impugned FIR will remain closed. However, if permission is granted at any stage under Section 6 of the AFSP Act-1958, then proceedings as per the FIR lodged can proceed in accordance with law and be brought to a logical conclusion. The Centre’s refusal to grant prosecution sanction again brought the focus back to AFSPA. The SC bench noted that the Nagaland government has already approached the court, challenging the Centre’s decision to deny permission to prosecute Army personnel. AFSPA is opposed by local communities who feel it gives impunity to armed force personnel guilty of atrocities and, worse still, killings.

Problem with AFSPA
The defence establishment and the armed forces have argued vehemently for the continuation of the controversial law. They said it is a necessary shield against harassment through malicious campaigns launched by overground supporters of the insurgents. The counsel for the plaintiffs and the parties had made submissions alleging and counter-allegations. However, we are not inclined to go into those submissions, because in our view, in view of the specific restriction contained in Section 6 of the AFSPA, which provides that no prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding can be instituted for exercising any power conferred under the said Act, without the previous sanction of the Central Government, the proceedings based on the impugned FIR cannot continue further.