Recently, the Delhi High Court considered The Caravan’s plea concerning alleged army atrocities in Poonch, Jammu, and Kashmir. The court has instructed the central government to respond within four weeks, with further deliberation scheduled for May 9.
NEW DELHI: Recently, the Delhi High Court considered a plea filed by the renowned news magazine, The Caravan, urging the Central government to address allegations concerning torture and homicide purportedly committed by Indian Army personnel in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
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On March 7, Justice Subramonium Prasad instructed the government to furnish its response within a span of four weeks.
According to the plea, the government had directed the magazine to remove ‘certain articles’ and a total of 11 URLs from its online platform.
Senior Advocate Chander Uday Singh, alongside advocates Harsh Bora, Maulshree Pathak, Amjid Maqbool, Viddusshi, Bidya Mohanty, and Katyayani Shurud, represented The Caravan’s interests, while the Union of India was represented by Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Apoorv Kurup and advocate Akhil Hasija.
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The Caravan’s publication dated February 1, 2024, titled “Echoes from the Military Base: Allegations of Torture and Murder by the Indian Army in Unrest-Stricken Jammu,” authored by journalist Jatinder Kaur Tur, featured interviews with the relatives of an alleged Intelligence Bureau (IB) informant from the region. This informant was reportedly taken into custody by the Army following a terrorist incident in Poonch on December 22, 2023, resulting in the deaths of four Army personnel, with the informant himself meeting a similar fate shortly after.
Subsequent news coverage suggested that in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, several civilians were detained, and tragically, three of them lost their lives.
The Caravan’s article further contended that significant sums of “compensation” were transferred by high-ranking military figures to the family of the deceased IB informant subsequent to the return of his body.
On February 9, The Caravan received formal communication from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, notifying them of a complaint lodged against their story and related social media posts. The ministry asserted that these materials posed threats to the sovereignty, integrity, and security of India, potentially inciting communal tensions and disrupting public order in Jammu and Kashmir.
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In response, on February 12, representatives from The Caravan engaged in an online session with an inter-departmental committee convened by the ministry. During this meeting, the ministry demanded the removal of the contentious article and various social media posts.
The case is scheduled for further deliberation on May 9.
[CASE TITLE: Delhi Press Patra Prakashan Private Limited v Union of India].
