Oting incident: Centre denies permission to prosecute 30 Armymen

In a significant development, the department of Military Affairs, Union Ministry of Defence, has refused to accord sanction to prosecute all 30 accused security force personnel for their alleged involvement in the botched counter-insurgency operation at Oting in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4, 2021.

The army men were named in a charge sheet filed on May 30, 2022 by a Nagaland Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) which had probed the incident. The SIT, headed by the Nagaland police chief, had on March 24 last year, had sought the Union Defence Ministry’s sanction to prosecute the army men.

A statement reportedly issued by the Nagaland Police, said,”The competent authority (Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Government of India) has conveyed its denial to accord sanction for prosecution against all 30 accused.”

Meanwhile, the Centre’s denial for sanction to prosecute the Army men has been conveyed to the court of District & Session Judge, Mon by the crime cell of the police station and Special Investigation Team (SIT), as per the police.

The prosecution sanction from the Centre is required for initiating any proceedings against security force personnel for any action taken by them while discharging their duties under Sec 197(2) CrPC and Sec 6 of the AFSPA.

The Supreme Court on July 19 paused any proceedings in the case after the wives of the accused security forces personnel requested it to cancel the Nagaland police FIR (First Information Report) and the report of the SIT.

It may be mentioned, that 14 civilians had lost their lives in the botched operation.