Supreme Court Relief To 30 Army Men In 2021 Botched Nagaland Operation
In a relief to 30 Army personnel, the Supreme Court on Tuesday closed the criminal proceedings initiated against them by the Nagaland government for allegedly killing 13 civilians in a 2021 botched operation to ambush militants in Mon district for want of prosecution sanction. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale noted that the Centre had on February 28 last year declined to grant sanction to prosecute the personnel under section 6 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) of 1958. Section 6 of the AFSPA says, "No prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings shall be instituted except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act." The bench said, in case sanction is granted at any stage under Section 6 of the AFSPA, the proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIRs may continue and may proceed in accordance with law and be brought to a