Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Saif-ud-Din Soz on Thursday sought National Human Rights Commission Chairman Justice HL Dattu’s resignation claiming that he had failed to “uphold the prestige” of the body by not acting in the Kashmir human shield case, reported Greater Kashmir. Soz said he had filed a complaint with the NHRC against the Army officer who had tied a civilian to his jeep to deter protestors Jammu and Kashmir. The Commission had not taken up his complaint.

“I never heard anything from the Commission, and in the meantime, the Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat felicitated Major Leetul Gogoi for his ‘act of bravery’,” Soz said in a statement. “I think it is an occasion for Justice Dattu to consider resigning his position or else asserting his position to restore the prestige of the NHRC.”

Soz said he had approached the NHRC on May 24 seeking to know what the Commission had done after taking his complaint on April 18, reported The Hindu.

Meanwhile, Farooq Ahmad Dar, the man who was tied to the Army jeep by Gogoi, has also filed a complaint with the state human rights commission against the officer.

The incident took place on April 9 during the bye-election for the Srinagar parliamentary seat. A video of the incident went viral on social media and attracted severe criticism for the violation of Dar’s human rights. In the video, Dar was seen tied to the vehicle with a note pinned to his chest that read “this would be the fate of stone-pelters”.

On May 24, Gogoi was given a commendation card for his “sustained efforts” against counter-insurgency. Rawat later said that an investigation into the matter was underway, but that there was no reason for major action against the officer. Gogoi had told reporters that Dar was instigating a crowd of stone-pelters, and that he had saved the lives of his team members by deciding to use him as a human shield.