Recently, news hit the online media that a man had filed a petition in the court seeking compensation from the Indian army for cutting the trees from his land that was in possession of the Indian Army in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
As per the news report, the Indian Army cited the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) saying that it cannot be persecuted. The court recently rejected its contention. Bandipora Principal Sessions Judge Amit Kumar ruled that there is “no need for the plaintiff to obtain sanction from the Central government before filing a suit in such type of controversy”. The case has been listed for hearing on July 4.
When the Army chopped down six walnut trees, some of them nearly 70 years old, in his ancestral orchard in north Kashmir’s Chuntimulla village in Bandipora, Ghulam Rasool Wani felt as if his “limbs had been cut off”, reported Indian Express.
Wani, 85, said his orchard was rented by the 14 Rashtriya Rifles in 2001 and 64 of 85 trees — poplars, willows and walnuts — were cut without his permission over the next eight years. Their timber was used to make Army bunkers, claimed Wani.
Denied access to even harvest the walnuts, Wani finally approached a court in 2018 seeking compensation for the chopped trees. Though the Army argued it cannot be prosecuted since it is protected by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the court recently rejected its contention.
Bandipora Principal Sessions Judge Amit Kumar ruled that there is “no need for the plaintiff to obtain sanction from the Central government before filing a suit in such type of controversy”. The case has been listed for hearing on July 4.
Taking a deep breath as he talked about his “first small victory” in his 22-year fight with the Army, Wani said, “Walnuts are our life. They sustain us. They are our livelihood. The trees were planted by my father when I was young. My father and I spent our entire life looking after those trees.”
The Army personnel rented the 25-kanal orchard (nearly 3 acres) belonging to him and his cousins, he told Indian Express.
“I was not allowed to set foot inside my orchard to harvest walnuts for eight years, starting from 2001. One day, I went to the camp to meet an officer and request him to allow me to harvest walnuts and compensate me for the cut trees. I don’t recall his name, but the officer abused me and tried to hit me,” he claimed.
Hurt by the officer’s behaviour, the then 70-year-old Wani resolved to fight for his right. He made a representation before the Deputy Commissioner of Bandipora and the Horticulture Department. That representation was just the beginning of his legal battle with the Army. There were roadblocks galore along the way for him.
“Those were tough days. There were no vehicles. I remember walking in 5 feet of snow many times to reach Bandipora. For many years, I would return home in the evening, without any help from the government,” he said. But Wani remained totally unfazed.
Wani, who can barely walk without a stick, said, “I would go for all hearings but the Army would fail to turn up. The court issued around 60 summons to the Army. An Army official turned up in court once. The judge was angry and told him that he would put him behind bars for non-compliance with court notices. No one from the Army appeared again.”