Officer’s father tells SC to quash FIR against Army

Says it will hurt the Army's morale in fighting terrorism in J&K

The father of Major Aditya Kumar, who has been named in an FIR lodged by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Shopian case, which involved firing by the Army on stone-pelters resulting in three civilian deaths, on Thursday moved the Supreme Court. (The officer's father who the petitioner is also serving in the Army).

The petition seeks quashing of the case because it will hurt the Army's morale in fighting terrorism in the state.

Major Aditya got embroiled in the case after the J&K police insisted on naming the officer and his unit, instead of filing a broad generic First Information Report that does not name anyone. The BJP, which is part of the ruling alliance in the state, raised strong objections. However, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the action was taken after consultations with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the FIR would be taken to its logical conclusion.

The Army has taken the stand that the soldiers were vastly outnumbered by the stone-throwing mob, and opened fire only after the crowd disregarded repeated warnings.

According to the petitioner, "the manner in which the lodging of the FIR has been portrayed and projected by the political leadership and administrative higher-ups of the State, reflects the extremely hostile atmosphere in the Vallaey. In these circumstances, the petitioner is left with no other viable option but to approach the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution for protection of Fundamental Rights of his son and himself, enshrined under Article 14 and 21."

The petition further states that Major Kumar was wrongly and arbitrarily named in the FIR as the incident relates to an Army convoy on bona fide military duty in an area under AFSPA, which was isolated by an "unruly and deranged" stone-pelting mob.

The intention of the Major was to save Army personnel and property and the fire was inflicted only to impair and provide a safe exit. "The unruly mob was requested to disperse and not to obstruct military persons in the performance of their duties and not to damage government property.

The unruly behaviour of the unlawful assembly reached its peak when they got hold of a Junior Commissioned Officer and was in the process of lynching him to death. It was at this moment that warning shots were fired... which as per the said terms of engagement is the last resort to be taken...," the plea said.

It also sought directions to issue guidelines to protect rights of soldiers and claim adequate compensation.