Delhi HC imposes Rs. 1 lakh costs on lawyer seeking SIT probe into killing of 39 Indians by ISIS

The Delhi High Court today imposed costs of Rs. 1 lakh on advocate Mehmood Pracha, for seeking a court-monitored probe into the hostage crisis which had resulted in the killing of thirty-nine Indians by ISIS in Iraq..A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and C Hari Shankar pronounced the verdict today, holding that the petitioner was guilty of material concealment of facts and had ignored public interest in ensuring healthy international relations and diplomatic ties..The petition, styled as Public Interest Litigation, with the Intelligence Bureau and Union of India as respondents, had made the following prayers:.(a) To constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is responsible to report only to this Hon’ble Court. .(b) To issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the Special Investigation Team constituted by this Hon’ble Court, to investigate into all the aspects of the hostage crisis which hostages have now been declared to have been killed by ISIS and .(c) To issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the Respondents to provide all the information required including documents/communication etc. and make the same available to the Special Investigation Team .(d) To issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by this Hon’ble Court to file monthly reports before this Hon’ble Court.”.The petitioner had alleged that the respondents failed in their duty to protect the lives of the thirty-nine Indians, who were held hostage by ISIS in Iraq. So far as the basis of this allegation was concerned, he had submitted that it was “on the basis of the material available in the public domain” and that he had “done the necessary inquiries to investigate and to determine the veracity of the facts mentioned in the present writ petition.”.The premise of the petition was the alleged “failure of the respondents to protect the lives of 39 Indian captives who were held hostage by the ISIS in Iraq”..The petitioner’s suspicion rested on his allegation that the Government had made contradictory statements to the effect that the thirty-nine Indian hostages were alive when they had actually been killed. This submission was itself based on a statement attributed to one Harjit Masih, who had escaped from the custody of the ISIS in 2014 and had claimed that the captives were dead..Advocate Manik Dogra, appearing for Union of India, submitted a copy of a statement dated March 20, 2018 made by the Minister for External Affairs giving details of the entire operations undertaken by the Government of India. Additionally, the respondents also placed an extract of the key dates and events before the Court..Extracting the factual matrix from the same, the Court observed that the said details divulged the extensive efforts made by the Government of India to seek information and to trace the missing Indian nationals from official sources in Iraq..The Court noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq had in writing stated on March 6, 2017 that there was “no confirmed information about the destiny of the killed Indian nationals”..The Minister of External Affairs, Government of India therefore, categorically stated that without concrete evidence of the Indian citizens being dead, she would not declare them so..The Court held that such a policy of the government cannot be faulted..“Looked at from any angle and perspective, this policy of the Government cannot be faulted. Imagine a situation where upon his/her going missing the authorities declared the person dead without confirmation and subsequently the person emerged alive. The action of the authorities would be labelled callous and negligent by persons as the petitioner”, the Court held..The Court also commended the efforts undertaken by the government to have the bodies exhumed from the mass grave, to procure samples of Indian relatives, and to have them dispatched to the Iraqi experts for DNA profiling, as well as matching undertaken by the experts at Iraq..“This has been possible only because of the herculean efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs in India and Iraq as also the sensitivity with which this huge tragedy stands handled by the Indian authorities..The tremendous responsibility shouldered by the Embassy of India, its promptness of the response to the difficult situation has to be commended.”.The Minister of State also came in for special praise with the Court stating,.“The fact that the Minister of State has personally travelled to Iraq even to bring home the mortal remains of the Indian workers and travelled to different States to hand them over is a reflection of the respect for Indian lives.”.The Court also noted the efforts made by the Indian government in other recent instances to bring home Indians safely..“There are other recent instances where Indian caught in violent cross fire have been brought home safely. Indian travellers all over the world must be feeling reassured by the official response that they are cared for and confident as they move across the globe.” .Importantly, the Court also addressed another aspect – regarding disclosure of details of the entire operation undertaken by the Government of India..Stating that public disclosure of such information would require divulgence of the identity of Indian and foreign undercover assets abroad, and that the same will endanger lives and seriously compromise national security, the Court rejected the prayer..That the petition was not based on any solid material also did not escape the attention of the Court. There is not a whisper of detail or material other than a bare reference to some newspaper reports, the Court stated..Based on the above, the Court concluded that submissions made by the petitioner reflected extreme insensitivity to the tragedy and was not guided by any public interest..“The writ petition which ignores the welfare, interest and sensitivities of dependents and relatives of Indian citizens who were killed after being taken into custody by a militant organisation and the public interest in ensuring healthy international relations and diplomatic ties deserves condemnation in the strongest terms.” .It, therefore, dismissed the petitions with costs of Rs. 1,00,000. The same has to be deposited with the Delhi High Court Advocates Welfare Trust within four weeks..Read the judgment below.