New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a plea over suicides by armed forces personnel and said the allegations were "omnibus" in nature.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran said it would not be possible for the apex court to make such a "roving inquiry" in a plea filed under Article 32 of the Constitution.
The bench noted all the petitioners and the allegations levelled in the plea related to Chhattisgarh.
It said the jurisdictional high court would be better equipped to deal with the grievance raised by the petitioners. "If the petitioners so desire, they may approach the jurisdictional high court for redressal of grievances," the bench said.
The top court in February 2020 issued notice to the Centre seeking its response on the plea, which was filed through advocate Satya Mitra.
On Monday, additional solicitor general K M Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, said general prayers were made in the plea and if the petitioners had some grievance, they could make a representation to the authorities concerned.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioners, referred to the data on suicides by the armed forces personnel and said the Centre must spell out steps being undertaken to prevent it.
"They must have a system in place," Gonsalves said.
He referred to the alleged ill-treatment meted out to armed forces personnel who were serving at a junior level.
"They must have some remedies. There are cases of leaves being denied," he said.
The bench however said, "This is like making a roving inquiry throughout the country." It said the jurisdictional high court was better suited to deal with the grievances raised by the petitioners. PTI ABA AMK