New Delhi: The Armed Forces Tribunal Monday asked the Army to produce court martial documents of
five soldiers punished for their involvement in the over
30-year-old sensational Samba spy case.
In the case, around 50 personnel of 168 Brigade
deployed along the Line of Control were punished after being
accused of spying for Pakistan on the basis of statements of
former gunners Sarwan Dass and Aya Singh.
The Tribunal Bench headed by Justice S S Kulshreshtha
asked the Army to produce the general court martial (GCM)
documents of gunners Banarasi Das, Milkhi Ram, Satpal, Harish
Singh and Balkar Singh, who have served jail terms, before it
by June 30.
The appeals of the soldiers who are seeking to get
their names cleared were among the cases transferred from the
High Court to the Tribunal after it was launched in August
last year.
The Tribunal said failure to produce the documents
would draw an "adverse inference" about Army`s contention in
the case.
"This is the first time in over 30 years since the
case came up that we would get to see the court martial
documents. I am hopeful that this will make it easier for us
to get justice," counsel for the five gunners Deepak
Bhattacharya said.
In the case of two other accused Captain A K Rana and
Captain R S Rathore, whose pleas are still pending in the
Supreme Court, the Tribunal said it would hear their case on
September 7.
Rana said that he and Captain Rathore were cleared by
the Delhi High Court in 2000, but the verdict was challenged
by the Army in the Supreme Court.
After the HC verdict, they filed pleas seeking
compensation for the jail term served by them which have also
been transferred to the Tribunal.
PTI
