The Supreme Court said excessive force should not be used during counter-insurgency operations.
Insurgents and terrorists in the northeast and Kashmir need to be dealt with strongly and a Supreme Court order curbing the use of "excessive and retaliatory force" is hampering army operations in these areas, the Centre told the top court today. The order, the Centre said in an appeal, should be reconsidered.
"We have to attack and fire against militants and the verdict is affecting our operations in the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir," said Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.
For years, insurgency-hit areas, especially Manipur, has seen protests against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA. Under the law, soldiers are allowed to make arrests without warrants or raid any location in insurgency-hit areas.
But activists say this legal immunity to the army for strong-arm tactics has led to gross human rights violations over the years. Activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on a hungerstrike for over 14 years, has become the symbol of protests against alleged army atrocities in Manipur.
In its order last July, the Supreme Court had also asked for details of over 1,500 alleged fake encounters in Manipur that took place over two decades. The encounters should be investigated by an independent agency, the court had said in response to petitions filed by the families of the deceased.
The Centre had filed a review petition earlier, but it had been dismissed. Today, Chief Justice JS Khehar said, "If your petition comes within the parameters of curative it is fine otherwise we can't help. We will see".