Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 3, 2002
Making an obvious distinction between
the rights of army personnel and civilians, the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) has rejected the demand of an army captain seeking compensation
for the death of his daughter in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NHRC received a complaint from
Capt Ram Niwas Sharma that his daughter was blown up while travelling in
an army vehicle, but it closed the case after receiving the defence ministry's
reply
Apparently satisfied with the reply
of the defence ministry, NHRC chairman J. S. Verma, in his one-page order,
said, "The report (of the defence ministry) is taken on record and the
case is closed, as no further intervention by the commission is deemed
necessary"
In response to the commission's
notice regarding the matter, the ministry acknowledged that Capt Sharma's
daughter Leena was killed in a blast in Pulwana district of the state while
travelling in an army bus from Srinagar to Jammu on completion of her annual
examination.
However, it rejected the claim for
compensation, citing the rules governing the payment of ex-gratia compensation
and the guidelines to be observed for the payment of ex-gratia in various
clauses.
According to the ministry rules,
compensation will generally be restricted to those cases where the death
of the service personnel was directly caused by actual field operation
or was killed by militants, terrorists and extremists after being kidnapped.
Capt Sharma, in his complaint, had contended before the NHRC that she was
targeted only because she belonged to the family of a military officer.
This was done in order to "terrorise the public and send a message that
anyone associated with the army would be eliminated", the complaint said.
PTI
