SC stays JK Police FIR against army officer in Shopian civilian killing case

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday put a stay on the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the Jammu and Kashmir Police against army Major Aditya Kumar of 10 Garhwal Rifles in connection with the killings of three civilians in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
The apex court, according to a report published in The Indian Express, also issued a notice to the Centre and the JK government, while seeking a response within two weeks in this regard.
The court also ordered that no coercive action should be initiated against the Army personnel, said the report.
The stay order came after father of the Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh, filed a petition before the apex court, claiming that the firing was undertaken to control “a savage and violent mob engaged in terrorist activity” and that the FIR violated the fundamental rights of his son, mentioned the report.
The Army officer added that the plea was submitted “for protecting the morale of the soldiers of Indian Army, who are facing all odds in performance of their bonafide duties and laying their lives in the line of duty, to uphold the dignity of the Indian flag”, said the report.
The Jammu-Kashmir Police had lodged an FIR under Section 302 (murder charge) against the Army personnel and his unit for opening fire on civilians at Ganovpora village in Shopian.
Two youths were killed on the spot, while the third one succumbed to his injuries later at the hospital.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister had earlier told the legislative assembly that her government would take the FIR to its logical conclusion.