THE verdict of a military tribunal which has given bail to the five army men indicted in Machil fake encounter case is a big setback for saner voices. The prestige of institutions is lowered down by such decisions, said a statement issued by the Jammu and Kashmir state committee of CPI(M) on July 31.

The system is trying to justify the wrong by saying the dead civilians were wearing pathan suits which they say are usually worn by terrorists. You can be killed for wearing a pathan suit. What message it sends. It is highly demoralising. Somebody has committed a wrong and a wrong is a wrong. Whether he is in uniform or not, the culprits must be dealt according to law and law must take its own course, the statement said.

The prestige of institutions is lowered down by such decisions. The tribunal has ignored findings of the Jammu and Kashmir police, Army’s Court of Inquiry and subsequent General Court Martial, which had sentenced the five army men. It is high time that government of the day takes corrective measures to reverse the tribunal’s decision which is nothing but murder of justice. Machil encounter was a national shame and to restore the faith of the people in the law of the land, the guilty must be punished and not let free, demanded the statement.