SC closes criminal proceedings against 30 Army officials in 2021 botched Nagaland operation
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed criminal proceedings against 30 Army personnel accused of killing 13 civilians in a 2021 botched operation to ambush militants in Nagaland's Mon district. It also said the case may be taken to its logical end if the Centre sanctions their prosecution.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale also said the order will not prevent the Army from taking any disciplinary action against the personnel.
The Nagaland government in separate proceedings has challenged the denial of sanction to prosecute the Army personnel.
The apex court closed the proceedings on two separate petitions filed by wives of the personnel, including a major rank officer, who sought closure of the case lodged by Nagaland police.
The wives were seeking closure of the criminal proceedings on the ground that the state government has no jurisdiction to prosecute the personnel due to immunity granted under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Their plea contended that prior sanction from the Centre was needed to initiate any legal proceedings against Army personnel if the area falls under AFSPA.
In April last year, the Central government had denied sanction to prosecute the Army men who were allegedly involved in the botched ambush at Oting in Mon district of the state.
The state government has moved the apex court challenging the denial of sanction to prosecute 30 Army personnel through a separate petition in which notice has been issued by a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.
The Nagaland government has contended that it has clinching evidence against the Army personnel, including a major, and yet the Centre has arbitrarily denied sanction to prosecute them.
In July 2022, the top court had stayed prosecution of the Army personnel belonging to a special forces on the pleas from their wives, who claimed their husbands were being prosecuted without the state obtaining mandatory sanction for prosecution.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
