J-K govt's U-turn: Major Aditya NOT named in Shopian firing FIR

The Jammu and Kashmir government today told the Supreme Court that Major Aditya Kumar's name was not on the FIR filed against Army personnel involved in the Shopian firing.


The apex court was hearing the plea of Lt Col (retd) Karamveer Singh, Major Aditya Kumar's father, seeking to quash the FIR.


In a status report to the court, the J&K government said that the Army officer had not been named when the police lodged an FIR to investigate the firing incident, rendering Singh's plea unnecessary.


A three-judge bench stayed the investigation into the Shopian firing, and by extension Major Aditya's role or lack thereof in it, till the next date of hearing on April 24.


"Major Aditya is an army officer and cannot be treated like ordinary criminals by the J&K police," the SC said.


In his plea, Singh stated 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.


Representational image