Shopian firing: SC agrees to hear Major's father plea to quash FIR

Srinagar: The Supreme Court today agreed to hear on Monday the plea of father of an Army officer, booked as an accused by Jammu and Kashmir Police in the recent Shopian firing incident.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered advocate Aishwarya Bhati’s submission that the plea of the father be heard on an urgent basis. The lawyer said the FIR has illegally been lodged against Major Aditya Kumar in connection with the firing incident in Shopian. “We will hear it on Monday,” the bench said.

Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh said his son, a major in 10 Garhwal Rifles, was “wrongly and arbitrarily” named in the FIR as the incident relates to an Army convoy that was on bonafide military duty in an area under the AFSPA and was isolated by an “unruly and deranged” mob pelting stones, causing damage to military vehicles.

Two civilians were killed when Army personnel fired at a stone-pelting mob in Ganovpora village in Shopian, prompting the chief minister to order an inquiry into the incident. The FIR was registered against personnel of 10 Garhwal Rifles, including Major Kumar, under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code.