Alleged Spy for Pakistan,tried 1/4 century(25yrs)set Free
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/22home3.htm
Court clears Samba spy case accused
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday burst the bubble of the
Samba spy case, which rocked the country in the mid-70s, by giving a
clean chit to the two Army Captains who were convicted in Court Martial
proceedings launched against them and several others who were
subsequently dismissed from service for allegedly spying for Pakistan.
Ordering the government to grant all consequential benefits to the
dismissed officers, including the two convicted Captains, a division
Bench, comprising Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice K Ramamoorthy,
declared the orders against them as null and void in the absence of any
evidence.
Accepting the writ petitions of Capt R S Rathuar and Capt A K Rana, and
appeals of seven other officers against a single-judge Bench upholding
the government action against them, the court said ``their conviction is
void in law''.
Setting aside the conviction and the dismissal orders, the Bench said
the Army authorities had failed to produce any material evidence of
their alleged involvement in the espionage.
The Samba spy case relates to the arrest of Army personnel Sarwan Dass
and Aya Singh in 1976 and their sentence to seven years' imprisonment by
the GCM. The two had subsequently named Capt Rathaur and Capt Rana, who
were arrested in August 1978.
Following their interrogation by military intelligence, several Army
officers were arrested, seven of whom had moved the high court against
their dismissal from service.
Castigating the Army for ``roping in'' so many officers in the case, the
Bench said ``we are of the view that there is no other conclusion
possible except to say that the orders, which are subject matters of the
writs and appeals by the petitioner, are merely camouflaged and passed
for extraneous reasons under the cloak of innocuous form of orders of
termination.''
``To give an air of verisimilitude, the Army had held the court martial
proceedings (against them), which are wholly void,'' the court said in
an 111-page judgment delivered three years after the conclusion of
arguments.
Stating that in the records, the Army authorities had produced four
``thin files without pagings'' as evidence, the court said ``the
respondents tried to play the cards very close to their chest and have
not allowed any light to be thrown on the issue to be decided.''
The military intelligence (MI) had arrested 52 Army officers and
personnel in the case but no proceedings were launched against a few of
them.
Referring to the records produced by the Army, the court said, ``it does
not disclose any fact. If any material worth mentioning had been found
in the files, we would (have) not certainly interfered to annul the
proceedings Justice delayed is justice denied
For Vijay Kumar Dewan, one of the dismissed Army officers who lost a
lifetime proving his innocence, what does the high court order mean?
``I have lost 20 beautiful years of my life and a promising career in
the Indian army. But today, my name has been cleared and that is all
that matters,'' says Dewan. ``I was charged with the most serious
offence, treachery to the state, when I was completely innocent. The
court has now set aside the conviction and acquitted me. But I can't get
back all those years. A lifetime has gone by. I am 54 now.''
Looking back at the infamous case, Dewan claimed: ``The whole thing was
a conspiracy hatched by certain officials. But I have nothing against
the army. The unit which I once served has supported me throughout my
struggle. They have been inviting me to every public function they have
organised.''
Surprisingly, Dewan has no grudges against anyone. Nor is he
complaining. Instead, today he is celebrating. Glancing through a few
pages of the historic judgment, he declared to his family on Thursday
evening: ``Good. At last, we have got justice.''
His wife, a diehard optimistic, added, ``I had never lost trust in
goodness and God. We had done nothing wrong. This had to happen one
day.''
The Dewans' offsprings were a happy lot too. ``When their father was
charged with the offence, I never told them about it,'' says Mrs Dewan.
``I did not want them to be burdened. We told them about the goings-on
much later. Only when they were old enough to bear it all.''
The Dewans don't even want to talk about their past experiences. ``We
have gone through hell,'' said Vijay K Dewan. ``But we don't want to go
over it again. We don't want to relive it. It's all in the past. We are
happy now. My children are settled. I don't want to narrate the
nightmare I faced all over again.''
Once out of the Army, Dewan, did a number of sundry jobs to sustain his
family. ``I was serving as a major in the army when this incident
happened,'' he said. ``And, suddenly, I had nothing to do. For years, I
worked as an agent for small, private firms. Destiny forced me to live a
life that was unthinkable while I was in the army.'' The man now owns a
small scale industry. ``I know I can't get back what I have lost,'' he
said. ` But I have learnt a lot from the entire episode.''
Today, Major Dewan can claim monetary benefit which would equal 20 years
of his salary. Compensation enough?(Smeeta Mishra Pandey & Agencies)
------------------
"The greatest trick that the devil played was to convince that he doesn't exist"movie-Usual Suspect
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/22home3.htm
Court clears Samba spy case accused
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday burst the bubble of the
Samba spy case, which rocked the country in the mid-70s, by giving a
clean chit to the two Army Captains who were convicted in Court Martial
proceedings launched against them and several others who were
subsequently dismissed from service for allegedly spying for Pakistan.
Ordering the government to grant all consequential benefits to the
dismissed officers, including the two convicted Captains, a division
Bench, comprising Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice K Ramamoorthy,
declared the orders against them as null and void in the absence of any
evidence.
Accepting the writ petitions of Capt R S Rathuar and Capt A K Rana, and
appeals of seven other officers against a single-judge Bench upholding
the government action against them, the court said ``their conviction is
void in law''.
Setting aside the conviction and the dismissal orders, the Bench said
the Army authorities had failed to produce any material evidence of
their alleged involvement in the espionage.
The Samba spy case relates to the arrest of Army personnel Sarwan Dass
and Aya Singh in 1976 and their sentence to seven years' imprisonment by
the GCM. The two had subsequently named Capt Rathaur and Capt Rana, who
were arrested in August 1978.
Following their interrogation by military intelligence, several Army
officers were arrested, seven of whom had moved the high court against
their dismissal from service.
Castigating the Army for ``roping in'' so many officers in the case, the
Bench said ``we are of the view that there is no other conclusion
possible except to say that the orders, which are subject matters of the
writs and appeals by the petitioner, are merely camouflaged and passed
for extraneous reasons under the cloak of innocuous form of orders of
termination.''
``To give an air of verisimilitude, the Army had held the court martial
proceedings (against them), which are wholly void,'' the court said in
an 111-page judgment delivered three years after the conclusion of
arguments.
Stating that in the records, the Army authorities had produced four
``thin files without pagings'' as evidence, the court said ``the
respondents tried to play the cards very close to their chest and have
not allowed any light to be thrown on the issue to be decided.''
The military intelligence (MI) had arrested 52 Army officers and
personnel in the case but no proceedings were launched against a few of
them.
Referring to the records produced by the Army, the court said, ``it does
not disclose any fact. If any material worth mentioning had been found
in the files, we would (have) not certainly interfered to annul the
proceedings Justice delayed is justice denied
For Vijay Kumar Dewan, one of the dismissed Army officers who lost a
lifetime proving his innocence, what does the high court order mean?
``I have lost 20 beautiful years of my life and a promising career in
the Indian army. But today, my name has been cleared and that is all
that matters,'' says Dewan. ``I was charged with the most serious
offence, treachery to the state, when I was completely innocent. The
court has now set aside the conviction and acquitted me. But I can't get
back all those years. A lifetime has gone by. I am 54 now.''
Looking back at the infamous case, Dewan claimed: ``The whole thing was
a conspiracy hatched by certain officials. But I have nothing against
the army. The unit which I once served has supported me throughout my
struggle. They have been inviting me to every public function they have
organised.''
Surprisingly, Dewan has no grudges against anyone. Nor is he
complaining. Instead, today he is celebrating. Glancing through a few
pages of the historic judgment, he declared to his family on Thursday
evening: ``Good. At last, we have got justice.''
His wife, a diehard optimistic, added, ``I had never lost trust in
goodness and God. We had done nothing wrong. This had to happen one
day.''
The Dewans' offsprings were a happy lot too. ``When their father was
charged with the offence, I never told them about it,'' says Mrs Dewan.
``I did not want them to be burdened. We told them about the goings-on
much later. Only when they were old enough to bear it all.''
The Dewans don't even want to talk about their past experiences. ``We
have gone through hell,'' said Vijay K Dewan. ``But we don't want to go
over it again. We don't want to relive it. It's all in the past. We are
happy now. My children are settled. I don't want to narrate the
nightmare I faced all over again.''
Once out of the Army, Dewan, did a number of sundry jobs to sustain his
family. ``I was serving as a major in the army when this incident
happened,'' he said. ``And, suddenly, I had nothing to do. For years, I
worked as an agent for small, private firms. Destiny forced me to live a
life that was unthinkable while I was in the army.'' The man now owns a
small scale industry. ``I know I can't get back what I have lost,'' he
said. ` But I have learnt a lot from the entire episode.''
Today, Major Dewan can claim monetary benefit which would equal 20 years
of his salary. Compensation enough?(Smeeta Mishra Pandey & Agencies)
------------------
"The greatest trick that the devil played was to convince that he doesn't exist"movie-Usual Suspect
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