The family of Captain Saurabh Kalia, one of the first Indian Army officers to sacrifice his life during the 1999 Kargil War, continues to wait for justice after 27 years. The petition seeking accountability for the alleged torture and killing of Captain Kalia and five fellow soldiers by the Pakistan Army remains pending before the Supreme Court, with no hearing reportedly held for nearly six years.
Captain Kalia’s father, Dr. N.K. Kalia, while talking to The Tribune here on Monday, expressed his disappointment over the prolonged delay in the legal proceedings, saying the family has spent more than two decades pursuing justice without any meaningful progress. Despite the delay, he said his faith in truth and justice remains unshaken.
According to Dr Kalia, the family’s counsel filed a fresh application before the Supreme Court in April 2026, requesting that the matter be listed for an early hearing. However, the case is yet to come up before the court.
Dr Kalia said the continued delay has weakened the family’s hopes of getting justice through the legal system. “If justice is not delivered in this world, my martyr son will certainly receive it in the court of God,” he said.
Captain Saurabh Kalia and five soldiers—Sepoys Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram, and Naresh Singh—went missing on May 15, 1999, while patrolling the Kaksar sector in Ladakh after being deployed to monitor Pakistani intrusions during the Kargil conflict. Their bodies were returned by Pakistan on June 9, 1999, bearing alleged signs of brutal torture before death, an incident that triggered widespread outrage across India and renewed calls for international accountability.
For more than 27 years, the Kalia family has consistently appealed to successive Central Governments and international forums to raise the issue under international humanitarian law and seek justice for the slain soldiers. Despite widespread public support and repeated appeals, the family believes that no decisive action has been taken to hold those responsible accountable.
As the years pass, Captain Kalia’s family continues to hope that the Supreme Court will hear the matter and that justice, though delayed, will not be denied.