The army had defended using Dar as human shield, saying “he was a stone pelter and by tying him to the jeep, Major Gogoi had prevented stone pelting”
A higher bench of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) will on December 12 again hear the case of Farooq Ahmad Dar who was used as human shield by the army in April this year.
The SHRC had recommended to the government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to Dar, who was tied to the bonnet of an army vehicle by one Major Gogoi on April 10 and paraded through several villages after being beaten up.
Dar had being hospitalised and doctors had testified that he had suffered mental trauma. Also, several top officials had testified that Dar had cast his vote. Election for Srinagar parliamentary constituency was being held on the day.
The army had defended using Dar as human shield, saying “he was a stone pelter and by tying him to the jeep, Major Gogoi had prevented stone pelting”.
Ahsan Untoo, chairperson International Forum for Justice and Human Rights, who had filed a petition seeking compensation for Dar, before the commission in April, said: “Chairperson of the commission Bilal Nazki said that this is a sensitive matter and it needs to be heard.”
“The investigation in the case is completed as per the reports submitted by the police, but still the government has denied the compensation to Farooq. Now the division bench will hear the case,” he added.
It was learnt that the division bench comprises Justice Nazki and member of the commission Jang Bahadur Singh.
On December 12, additional advocate general, who will represent the government, and Dar and Untoo will be present before the bench and their arguments will be heard.
On 7 November, the government had rejected SHRC’s recommendation for the compensation to Dar.
Source: http://www.greaterkashmir.com
Updated On: Nov 14 2017