A resident of Kashmir who was taken into custody by the Army 28 years ago has been declared dead by a court in Srinagar after it found that he was killed by the military.

Sub-Judge Massarat Jabeen issued a decree of declaration for Abdul Rashid Wani’s death on a civil suit filed by his wife and two sons and directed the Registrar Births and Deaths, Srinagar Municipal Corporation Srinagar, to issue a death certificate in their favour.

The Court found that Wani was taken into custody by Gorkha Riffles in July 1997 and murdered by Major VP Yadav.

It noted that this was revealed in an inquiry conducted by Sessions Judge Srinagar on orders of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court.

“The inquiry reports reads that during the investigation of case FIR No. 180/2002 under Section 364 RPC registered at Police Station Parimpora, Srinagar, it came to fore that Abdul Rashid Wani S/o Abdul Samad Wani R/o Madina Colony Bemina Srinagar was taken into custody by the army along with one more person namely Farooq Ahmad Bhat. It further reveals that actually, the accused (Major V.P Yadav) had murdered Abdul Rashid Wani in his custody and had disposed of his corpse,” the judge said.

The Court also found that the criminal investigation into the matter did not yield any conclusive results regarding the whereabouts of Wani and that the police too concluded in its final report that he was killed in custody.

“The findings of the above referred report and statement of the witnesses produced in support of plaintiffs clearly indicate that despite investigation, the missing person could not be traced. Therefore, this issue in light of the statement of plaintiffs witnesses and report submitted by investigating agencies pursuant to registration of FIR No.182/2002 the issue stands proved in favour of plaintiffs,” the judge said.

Concluding that Wani’s whereabouts remain unknown despite judicial inquiry and police investigation and that he has not been heard of for more than seven years, the Court ruled that the legal presumption of death squarely applies in the case.

Advocate Toufiq Ahmad & Associates represented the plaintiffs.

Standing Counsel Basharat Majid appeared for the respondents. 

[Read Judgment]