Making Koul Commission report public: Court seeks response from Government

Srinagar/June,3: A Division Bench Monday issued notices to Chief Secretary and Commissioner Secretary to Home Department Jammu and Kashmir seeking their response against not bringing the report about the 2010 Kashmir killings to public domain.
Pertinently, more than 120 people were killed in 2010 summer uprising while the then government led by Omar Abdullah had constituted one man commission in 2014 to probe those killings. The Commission was headed by Justice Retired Moti Lal Koul who after long drawn proceedings submitted its report to the State Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on December 31, 2016.
Even after the expiry of five months, the Jammu Kashmir Government did not made the report public, prompting an NGO Jammu Kashmir People’s Forum to file a Public Interest Litigation seeking court intervention in making the said report public.
The PIL was filed by General Secretary Jammu Kashmir People’s Forum Mir Mubashir Shujah. The petitioner in his petition while quoting media reports has said that the exhaustive 320 pages Koul Commission report has not only fixed responsibilities but has also made several recommendations to redress the grievances of victim families.
The Counsels for petitioner Advocate Shafqat Nazir and Nadeem Qadri claimed that the human loss could have been avoided during 2016 protests, had this report would have been published. “This report will prove beneficial for the law enforcing agencies as it talks about the strategies and other aspects while dealing with law and order problems.
They pleaded before the court to direct the government to make the report of Koul Commission public, implement the recommendation of the Commission about compensating the victims’ families and action taken report on the findings.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Jammu Kashmir High Court Badar Durez Ahmed and Justice Ali Muhammad Magray accordingly issued notices to Jammu Kashmir Chief Secretary and Commissioner Secretary Home to file government response in this regard. “This court wants to know why the Koul Commission report was not made public. The Chief Secretary and the Commissioner Secretary to State Home Department are being directed to file their responses in this court of law,” the Division Bench directed.