The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on August 25, 2022, ordered the reopening of the Nadimarg massacre case. On the night of March 23, 2003, 24 Kashmiri Hindus were killed by Islamists of Lashkar-e-Taiba in a small village named Nadimarg in the Pulwama district of Kashmir. The Islamists who came dressed in counterfeit military uniforms shot dead the Kashmiri Pandits by lining them. The victims included 11 men, 11 women, and two children, one of who was two years old.
Justice Sanjay Dhar in his order said:
It seems that during the pendency of the trial, the prosecution moved an application before the trial court seeking permission to examine material prosecution witnesses on commission, as according to the prosecution, these witnesses had migrated out of Kashmir Valley and they were reluctant to depose before the trial court at Shopian in view of the threat perception.
The decision of the High Court came on an application filed by the prosecution seeking recall of an earlier order that dismissed a criminal revision petition a decade ago and effectively closed the case. As observed by Justice Dhar further:
The aforesaid application came to be dismissed by the Principal Sessions Judge, Shopian, vide his order dated 09.02.2011. The said order was challenged by the prosecution by way of Criminal Revision Petition No.18/2011. On 21.12.2011, the aforesaid revision petition came to be dismissed by this Court.
Justice Dhar further referred to the observation made by the Supreme Court in 2014 in connection with a Special Leave to Appeal by the State against the High Court order. He said:
The petitioner-State has been given liberty to file a recall application before this Court so that the order dated 21.12.2011 may be recalled. From the foregoing enunciation of law on the subject, it is clear that the power of recall is different from the power of review of the judgment. Therefore, this Court does have jurisdiction to recall an order which is a nullity in the eyes of law.
He further added:
The application is allowed and the order dated 21.12.2011 passed by this Court is recalled. The Registry is directed to post the revision petition for rehearing on 15.09.2022.
