Centre files petition in Supreme Court to quash FIR named Army Major Aditya Kumar in Shopian firing

New Delhi, March 9: The central government on Friday moved to Supreme Court and filed a petition seeking the quashing of an FIR that named an Army officer Major Aditya Kumar in a case of firing in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

The move of central government comes few days after Jammu and Kashmir government clarifying it stand on Major Aditya Kumar in Supreme Court said that his name was not mentioned in the FIR filed against Army personnel involved in the Shopian firing on January 27.

After Jammu and Kashmir government’s clarification, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the investigation by the police into an FIR on the Shopian firing involving Major Aditya Kumar. However, the Major Major Aditya Kumar’s name does feature in the FIR but he's referred to as the officer leading a convoy that fired at a stone-pelting mob in Shopian.

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

The Army, too, contends that Major Aditya of the 10 Garhwal Rifles was leading the “administrative convoy” and was some distance away from the site where the firing occurred at Ganwapora in late January. Singh further claimed that his son’s intention was to save Army personnel and property and the fire was inflicted “only to impair and provide a safe escape from a savage and violent mob engaged in terrorist activity”.

“The unruly behaviour of the unlawful assembly escalated and they got hold of a Junior Commissioned Officer and were in the process of lynching him when warning shots were fired to disperse the violent mob and protect public property,” Karamveer Singh added.

After which, the apex court restricted the Mehbooba Mufti-led Jammu and Kashmir government from taking any coercive actions against all Army officers including Major Aditya Kumar in the case.

Interestingly, three 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. It was previously reported that 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.