-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre made a forceful attempt on Wednesday for dilution of the Supreme Court's earlier judgment making registration of FIRs mandatory for encounter deaths during counter-insurgency operations by Armed Forces, even in disturbed areas under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). In an order on July 8, 2016, the SC had negated the protection against prosecution available to Armed Forces personnel under AFSPA. "If the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court had recently said security forces had no inherent right to shoot people, which suggests that yesterday's killing of the eight Simi operatives by Madhya Pradesh police went against that ruling. The court had held that even if a person was seen carrying weapons in a "disturbed" area, it did not automatically give the security forces the right to shoot him. Even the army had no blanket...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre and National Human Rights Commission clashed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the panel's plea to make its recommendations in human rights violations cases, including those by the Armed Forces, binding on the Centre and state governments. "Unless the recommendations of the human rights panel are given binding status, the whole exercise of conducting an inquiry or investigation by a body like NHRC...

-The Hindu “Accountability is a facet of the rule of law.” This established legal principle has acquired fresh significance after the Supreme Court ruled that the Armed Forces cannot escape investigation for excesses in the course of the discharge of their duty even in “disturbed areas”. In such notified areas, security personnel enjoy statutory protection for their use of “special powers”. While hearing petitions demanding an inquiry into 1,528 deaths in...

-The Indian Express The court ruled that more than 1500 cases of alleged fake encounters in Manipur in the last 20 years "must be investigated." New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday said that indefinite deployment of Armed Forces in the name of restoring normalcy under AFSPA “would mock at our democratic process”, apart from symbolising a failure of the civil administration and the Armed Forces. The court also said that “ordinarily our armed...