I’ve right to be declared innocent,says accused

This year,a fresh piece of evidence emerged in the decades old Samba spy case that has given a new lease of life to the petitions of many accused who are still fighting in the various courts to reclaim what they lost to a case dating back to 1975.

A post-mortem report of prime accused Havaldar Ram Swaroop was traced to Aruna Asaf Ali government hospital. It said that he died of coma and severe pain resulting from multiple injuries. It negated what the Army all along maintained — that the man died of drug overdose. Swaroop was the only accused to have died in the scandal.

Dated October 1978,this post-mortem report has been attached with the petition in the SC,saying the evidence is now available and it must be regarded.

Captain Rathaur was arrested in the Samba spy case on August 24,1987,and spent 14 years in jail.

In 2001,the Delhi High Court had described the Samba case as a gross miscarriage of justice. The Army appealed against the order in the apex court in 2006 and the case was dismissed.

“The basic structure of the Constitution includes the Preamble which guarantees justice — social,political and economic. If you can’t declare an innocent as innocent,you are violating it. The Army has all along been saying it is too late. The right to be declared innocent is a timeless right as has been upheld by the courts in the United Kingdom,” the counsel for the petitioner,Deepak A Masih,said.

The petitioners have attached the copies of the Right to Information Act replies saying that two former prime ministers,Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi,had ordered a review of the Samba spy case,and claimed that by disobeying the orders the Army committed an act similar to a military coup.

“The reviews never took place,according to the RTI. Last year,the PM’s office confirmed that records were available with the Defence Ministry,but the ministry denied it,” Masih said.

“Before re-admitting the petition,the SC asked specific clarification from the Solicitor General of India but no explanations have come forth. Now,in the next hearing,which should be in the second week of May,the Army has to justify why it says it is too late to review the case and we will have to defend our stance,” Masih added.