Shopian Firing Case: Probe Against Major Aditya Kumar Put on Hold, Supreme Court Says, ‘He's Army Officer, Not Criminal’

Jammu, March 5: The Supreme Court on Monday put on hold the investigation into the death of three civilians killed in the Shopian firing case in Jammu and Kashmir in January this year. With the latest development, the probe against Major Aditya Kumar in Shopian firing case has been put on hold till April 24.

A bench chaired by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ordered the state government of Jammu and Kashmir to put the investigation on hold till April 24 when it would deliver its ruling in this case. "After all, it is a case of an Army officer, not an ordinary criminal," Chief Justice observed. The bench further informed that the in the meantime, there shall be no investigation on the basis of FIR till then.

The Supreme Court today was hearing the plea of Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh, the father of Major Aditya Kumar who was seeking to quash the FIR against his son Major Aditya. In his petition, Singh had said that 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 bona fide military duty in an area under AFSPA and was isolated by an "unruly and deranged" mob pelting stones, causing damage to military vehicles. However, during the hearing today, the counsel representing Jammu and Kashmir told the bench that Major Aditya was not named as accused anywhere in the FIR.

On February 12, the apex court had restrained the Jammu and Kashmir police from taking any "coercive steps" against Army officers, including Major Aditya Kumar, who was earlier reportedly named as accused in the case. The Supreme court's order comes after the Jammu and Kashmir government underlined that Major Aditya Kumar had not been named as an accused in the First Information Report that was registered by police but as the army officer leading the police convoy.

To recall, three civilians were killed when Army personnel fired at a stone-pelting mob in Ganovpora village of Shopian on January 27. This prompted the chief minister to order an inquiry into the incident. As per reports by PTI, a FIR was registered against personnel of 10 Garhwal Rifles under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code (the penal code applicable in Jammu and Kashmir).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 05, 2018 05:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).