The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has observed that there was not enough evidence to prove that jawans of the Border Security Forces (BSF) opened fire deliberately at an Army patrol, which resulted in the death of three soldiers in 1999 in Jammu .
“Though conviction can be sustained on the basis of sole testimony of a witness, however, conviction cannot be sustained on the basis of suspicions, conjectures or surmises. The sole testimony of the injured [Army jawan] has not been corroborated by any prosecution witness and does not inspire confidence to sustain conviction,” a High Court double Bench, comprising justices Rajesh Sekhri and Sanjav Dhar, held.
The incident took place during the intervening night of July 16-17, 1999 when an Army patrol party, headed by Lt. Sanjiv Dahiya, was on patrol towards a forward post. The Army patrol came under fire from BSF personnel on duty at the bunker, which left three Army personnel dead and one injured.
