Jammu, April 17 (KMS): After repeated reminders, the puppet administration has finally extended the term of Justice Makhan Lal Koul Commission by two months to submit its report on custodial killings and fake encounters in occupied Kashmir.
The term has been extended on April 10, 2008 through an order issued by the law department. For the last so many months, the commission was literally dysfunctional because the administration was in no mode to extend its term. The commission was constituted on April 2, 2007 and a period of six months was fixed for the commission to complete the inquiry with Justice Makhan Lal Koul, a retired judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court as its chairman.
The commission's birth was necessitated by the public outcry across the occupied territory over the disclosure of the involvement of Indian troops and police in the killing of innocent Kashmiris in fake encounters for getting monetary and promotional benefits. The constitution of this one-man commission revived the hopes of the parents seeking information about their disappeared ones.
It had to submit the report by November 2007. However, the term expired while the commission was just making preliminary inquiries. The commission's head Justice Makhan Lal Koul requested the administration to extend its term further by six months but the latter took over six months to approve the proposal.
Commission has reportedly been inquiring into five different cases of custodial killing and fake encounters. The commission was mandated to fix responsibility on those involved in fake killings and make recommendations for preventing recurrence of such incidents.
Probing a custodial killing or a fake encounter demands exhaustive investigation and expecting a man to complete investigations within six months is absolute illogical, said an officer of the law department. He added that the commission would need another six months before it makes recommendations to the administration in the fake encounter cases.
The Commission was asked to take the case of Abdul Rehman Padder who was killed in a fake encounter as a reference case and then take up investigation in other similar cases.
It is important to mention here that Abdul Rehman Padder was a resident of Larnoo, Kokernag of Islamabad district who was abducted and later killed in a fake encounter at Ganderbal by SOG personnel. A senior police officer along with his colleagues was found involved in the killing of Padder.