The judgment of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court records the following account. A Lethpora, Awantipora man, a cameraman with the University of Kashmir, was picked up from the university campus in September 1997 by an STF/SOG team led by SP (Operations) [name withheld] and never seen again. The State Human Rights Commission, after a full enquiry with cross-examination, held the arrest proved and the police story of escape during a Nowhatta arms-recovery operation fabricated, recommending Rs. 5 lakh interim relief, a criminal case and disciplinary action. The High Court adopted the SHRC findings, held the case a custodial disappearance in breach of Article 21, and awarded Rs. 2 lakh public-law compensation (unless the State paid the SHRC-recommended Rs. 5 lakh), leaving recovery from the responsible officers to the State. It also directed registration of a criminal case against the erring officials, investigation by an SSP-rank officer within four months, and simultaneous disciplinary proceedings. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.
This page documents a court-adjudicated case from the judgment and cited sources below. Findings are attributed to the court; this record does not add findings of its own.
How verification works →By judgment dated 9 October 2003 in O.W.P. No. 263 of 2001, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court (Coram: Syed Bashir-Ud-Din, J.) returned findings adverse to 5 police personnel, namely: Superintendent of Police (Operations), STF/SOG, Awantipora; Sub-Inspector, SOG, Lethpora; Constable No. 602, JKAP with SOG Lethpora; Police personnel, SOG party, Lethpora; SHO, Soura (then), Soura Police Station, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 2 lakh (Rs 2,00,000).
Compiled from the judgment and the cited sources. Findings are those of the court; this card adds none of its own.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court judgment dated 9 October 2003 is the concluded position shown in the cited sources.
Reliable material supports a specifically documented fact relevant to that allegation, not necessarily the full allegation, causation, intent, unlawfulness, or responsibility.
Official finding: supports allegation.
Holding not recorded separately.
“The police version is wholly unacceptable and one tailored to serve interests of the police personnel involved in the offence of custodial disappearance of the subject.” (para 8)
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 200,000.
(Round-8 full re-verification: published record re-checked against the judgment text (outcome, officers, quote, key facts) plus methodology-compliance pass; skills-guided adversarial re-verification of the published record against the judgment text (reverify/t1-*/adversarial-8.jsonl))
Corrections (0): No corrections recorded.
Review: Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded.
These records are listed together because they share a state or a topic. That does not mean they are connected.
