Srinagar > Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today asserted that the state human rights commission (SHRC) "lacked jurisdiction" to intervene in a case involving Farooq Ahmad Dar, who was strapped to a jeep's bonnet purportedly as a shield against stone pelters in Kashmir.
In a written reply to a question in the Assembly, she said the commission's recommendation last year of giving Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Dar "cannot be accepted" as a probe in the matter was still on.
The chief minister said the human rights body had last August observed that it was "handicapped" to go into the conduct of the Army. "Having so observed, the commission lacks jurisdiction to entertain or adjudicate upon the present matter," she told the House.
A video had gone viral on April 9, 2017 in which Dar was seen strapped to the bonnet of a moving Army jeep in Budgam district, the day when the bypoll to Srinagar Lok Sabha seat was held. In May that year, Major Leetul Gogoi, the officer said to have tied Dar to the jeep, was given a commendation card by Army chief General Bipin Rawat.
Mehbooba argued that until the probe was completed, paying a compensation would "tantamount to establishing the guilt" of the accused without affording him an opportunity to be heard.
"The recommendation of compensation cannot be accepted as no allegations, regarding violation of human rights of the applicant, have been levelled against the state government or any of its functionaries," the chief minister asserted.
The state government had discharged its obligation by registering a case and initiating an investigation, she added.
