New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that a “war-like situation” is prevailing in the country, especially in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir areas either due to insurgency or due to “home-grown groups” colluding with anti-national forces for seceding from India.
Making this submission before a bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Uday Lalit, hearing a petition on extra judicial killings in Manipur, the AG said the problem of insurgency cannot be tackled like a mere law and order problem.
In a war-like situation, either you apprehend the person or kill him, he said and added that there is no alternative. The AG rejected the charge that the Army was engaged in cold-blooded murders of innocent persons.
The AG, assisted by counsel R. Balasubramaniam and Sunil Mathews, told the court that under the Army Act, if the security forces fail to combat the enemy they are liable for punishment including death.
The AG said, “Several hundreds of Army personnel have sacrificed their lives combating these anti-national forces in places like Manipur and J&K.”
