New Delhi, Jan. 23: The Supreme Court today slammed army authorities for stalling a criminal case initiated by the CBI against five officers involved in an alleged fake encounter in Jammu and Kashmir.

“You don’t want to take over the case and initiate court-martial proceedings against them. You don’t allow the criminal justice system to go ahead,” the court said. “The victims cannot be remedy-less.”

The court’s observations came after the counsel for the officers, additional solicitor-general P.P. Malhotra, said the army was not interested in taking over the case. “The armed forces are bound to protect their men,” he said.

Army personnel had shot dead seven people in 2000 and branded them militants. The army contended that in an area where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was in force, no inquiry could be initiated against armed forces personnel.