The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the petition of the father of a military officer who was accused in the shootout incident in Shopian. Let us tell you that his father had approached the Supreme Court while demanding dismissal of FIR lodged by Major Aditya Kumar of the army.
Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh has said that his son has been named incorrectly in 10 Garhwal Rifles and arbitrarily in the FIR as they have joined the military convoy going on military duty in an area of Afspa. Surrounding the military convoy, the crowd pelted stones at him, causing many military vehicles to be damaged.
Singh’s application says that his son’s intention was to save only military personnel and property and bullets were launched to avoid the violent mob on the terror activity. The request was requested to leave the follow-on crowd and not interfere with the work of the army and harm the government property. But when the situation went out of control, the warning was issued. In such a situation, when the violent mob caught a junior commissioned officer and beat him to death, the bullets were fired in the warning to let the crowd disappear.
Singh also referred to the beating of DSP Mohammed Ayub Pandit by crowd of people last year to apprise the apex court, from Jammu Kashmir. He wanted to show that the army officers are working in those situation to control the violent mob in Kashmir. It has been said in the petition that the petitioner had to demand the cancellation of an FIR by filing this writ petition in the court directly in view of adversity at the grassroots level. The way the leaders and administrative officials in the state are presenting FIR, they reflect the state’s adverse state. In such a case, the petitioner has no choice but to come to this court under Article 32 of the Constitution to protect the fundamental rights of his son.
An FIR has been registered under the provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code (302) (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) on personnel of 10 Garhwal unit of Army including Major Kumar. In fact, two civilians were killed when military personnel launched bullets on the crowd of stone workers in Ganovapora village of Shopia. After that the Chief Minister ordered an inquiry into the incident.
