2003 Nandimarg Massacre: J&K High Court allows revision petition of J&K Police [details]

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on Saturday allowed the resumption of trial in the infamous Nadimarg massacre case which was closed in 2011.

The Court allowed a revision petition of J&K Police in the 2003 Nadimarg massacre case – the verdict means the trial which had abruptly halted more than a decade back can now resume.

Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul in the judgment pronounced Saturday afternoon ordered the trial court to take all necessary measures for ensuring the examination of witnesses by issuing a commission and/or recording their statements through videoconferencing.

According to an order, which has gone viral on social media, the trial court shall ensure expeditious proceedings to conclude the matter at the earliest.

2003 Nadimarg massacre

Twenty-four Kashmiri Pandits were killed by terrorists of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in Nadimarg village near Shopian in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on March 23, 2003.

Terrorists of LeT entered the village wearing military fatigues and lined up villagers before shooting them dead. The first terrorists disarmed the police personnel deployed to guard the Kashmir Pandits. Terrorists first snatched the policemen's weapons and later fired indiscriminately on the Kashmiri Pandits.

The victims, 11 men, 11 women, and 2 small children, ranged from a 65-year-old to 2-year-old. The policemen posted there fled the scene. The killers disfigured the bodies of the victims, looted their houses, and took away the ornaments from the bodies of the dead women.

Following the massacre, an FIR was filed in Zainapore, and seven accused people were brought before the Court of Principal Sessions Judge, Pulwama, following an inquiry. The case was later transferred to the Shopian Court of Principal Sessions Judge.

The main accused Zia Mustafa, a Lashkar-e-Toiba self-styled commander, was killed by armed forces in October 2021. Seven persons including cops facing charges of dereliction of duty are accused in the case.

In August this year, High Court reopened the case

On August 24, 2022, the High Court had restored the revision petition of the State which had been dismissed in December 2011 for non-prosecution. The Supreme Court earlier, in 2015, had asked the high court to consider recalling the 2011 order.
The revision petition had challenged an order passed by Principal Sessions Judge, Shopian in February 2011 on the prosecution's application "seeking permission to examine material prosecution witnesses on commission".

The prosecution had then argued that the witnesses had migrated out of Kashmir Valley and they were reluctant to depose before the trial court at Shopian because of the threat perception. The trial court had dismissed the application.

Justice Koul on Saturday said the trial court had dismissed the application of prosecution for examining the witnesses on commission on "the irrelevant consideration" while overlooking the material and relevant aspects of the case.

"The said application of the prosecution for recording statement of witnesses on commission deserved to be allowed," said the bench, while setting aside the order dated 09.02.2011 of the trial court.

The court found merit in the State's argument that the trial court failed to appreciate the difficulty of the prosecution in procuring the presence of the witnesses and "that endeavour of the court below in a case of heinous nature like one on hand should be to examine all the witnesses on commission so as to unveil the truth".