Army Major Aditya Kumar's father moves SC over Shopian firing

A teargas shell explodes near the protesters clashing with security forces against the alleged killing of two youths in Army firing in Shopian. File pic

The father of Army Major Aditya Kumar, booked by the Jammu and Kashmir police in the firing incident in Shopian, has moved the Supreme Court, seeking quashing of the FIR against his son. Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh said his son, a Major in the 10 Garhwal Rifles, has been "wrongly and arbitrarily" named in the FIR, as the incident relates to an Army convoy on bonafide military duty in an area under the AFSPA, which was isolated by an "unruly and deranged" mob pelting stones ,causing damage to military vehicles.

The plea, filed through advocate Aishwarya Bhati, said the intention of his son 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 mob was requested to disperse and not obstruct military in performance of their duties and not damage government property but when the situation reached beyond control, a warning was issued to disperse, the plea said. As the unruly behaviour of the "unlawful assembly" reached its peak and when they got hold of a Junior Commissioned Officer and were in the process of lynching him, warning shots were fired to disperse the violent mob and protect public property, it submitted.

Singh also referred to last year's incident of the lynching of DSP Mohd Ayub Pandith to apprise the top court about the situation in the state and the condition in which Army officers were working to control violent mobs in Kashmir. The petitioner has sought directions to issue guidelines to protect rights of soldiers and adequate compensation, so that no Army personnel is harassed by initiation of criminal proceedings for bonafide actions in exercise of their
duties.

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