SC Seeks Centre Response on Nagaland’s Plea to Prosecute Army Personnel

The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Central Government and the Ministry of Defence on a plea filed by the Nagaland government challenging the denial of sanction to prosecute 30 Army personnel accused of killing 13 civilians in a botched operation intended to ambush militants in the state in 2021.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the Nagaland government’s submissions and issued notices to the Centre and the Union Ministry of Defence.

The bench has scheduled the plea for hearing on September 3, 2024.

In April 2023, the Central government had denied sanction to prosecute the Army personnel allegedly involved in the botched ambush at Oting in Mon district. The state government filed the writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, which allows for pleas alleging the violation of fundamental rights.

The state, which had filed an FIR, claims to have substantial evidence against the Army personnel, including a Major, yet the Centre has arbitrarily denied sanction to prosecute them. The state alleges that the central authority, without properly reviewing the evidence collected by the special investigation team of the state police, denied the sanction to prosecute.

In July 2022, the Supreme Court had stayed the prosecution of the Army personnel belonging to a special forces unit following pleas from the accused’s wives, who argued that their husbands were being prosecuted without the necessary sanction from the state.