The Supreme Court, while expressing concern over ethnic killings in Sri Lanka, has declined to entertain a petition for a Special Investigation Team probe into the role of the Indian Army in the alleged killings of over 40,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in association with the island’s Army during the final phase of the war against the LTTE in May 2009.
A Bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and Kurian Joseph on Thursday told counsel S. Prabhakaran, appearing for Ram Sankar, advocate and human rights activist: “We are deeply concerned over the killings and we appreciate your cause. But there are issues which are absolutely beyond the domain of the court and this is one of them. We don’t have jurisdiction to order such a probe based on the report of the U.N. Secretary-General’s expert panel. This is not a matter of judicial review. Absolutely not. The court is not equipped to go into the issues which have different ramifications You have to make a representation to the authorities concerned. We give you liberty to withdraw this petition.”