High Court grants 3 weeks time to Govt to file response on Koul Commission Report

Srinagar: A Division Bench of Jammu Kashmir High Court yet again granted three weeks time to Government for filing its response to Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking Koul Commission Report on 2010 Kashmir killings be made public.
The PIL has been filed by an NGO (Peoples Forum) through its General Secretary M M Shuja seeking a direction for making public the report of “Koul Commission” of retired Justice M L Koul and its follow up action.
The Division Bench of Justice Muhammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey directed the state counsel Additional Advocate General Bashir Ahmed Dar to file the final response within three weeks.
Advocate Dar in his submission said: “One man Commission of Enquiry is under examination, in consultation with General Administration Department, Police Head Quarter, IGP, CID and Deputy Commissioner Srinagar.”
He submitted that vigorous efforts are being made to finalize the Action Taken Report on the recommendations made by Rtd Justice Koul in his report.
Dar submitted that the position was last reviewed in a meeting chaired by Principal Secretary (Home) which was amongst others attended by attended by Director General of Police and others. “Certain inputs are still awaited for which the matter is being vigorously pursued to enable us to conclude the examination of the report in an expeditious manner,” the State Counsel submitted.
Pertinently, the PIL submitted in the court of law says that the state has not so far either made the report public or disclosed as to what action it has taken or contemplated to be taken to mitigate the sufferings of the victims with the result that the society at large carries an impression that constitution of such commission is an exercise in futility. Such impression is not only detrimental to the peace and security in the state but also speaks volumes about the transparency and accountability of the system and of those managing the system,” the PIL says adding that the state government, the PIL says, was under a constitutional obligation to make the report public so that any lapse pointed out in the report was taken note of.
More than 120 people were killed by police and paramilitary CRPF personnel in Kashmir valley in 2010.
“Had the report been filed on time and the recommendations implemented, the unrest of 2016 and the continuing disturbance in the Valley could have been averted,” the plea says.
The one-man judicial Commission was appointed on June 19, 2014 by the then Chief Minister Omar Abdulla to probe the 2010 killings. The Commission submitted its report in December 2016.