Shopian firing case: Apex court extends protection granted to Army Major

New Delhi, July 30: The Supreme Court has extended protection granted to Major Aditya till August 21 in the Shopian firing incident case, a media report said on Monday.

Three civilians were killed after army men opened fire in Ganowpora village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district on January 27 this year. The then J&K chief minister had ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Following the killings that created uproar in the Valley, the police lodged an FIR against the army party led by Major Aditya.

The FIR was registered against personnel of 10 Garhwal Rifles under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code (the penal code applicable in Jammu and Kashmir). Later, J&K govt told the court that Major Aditya was not named as an accused in the FIR.

On Monday, the apex court extended the protection to the major while hearing a petition filed by his father, Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh who is seekin, reported Zee News.

The top court had earlier this month, said that the final call on whether an FIR can be filed against Army personnel without the consent of the Centre or not would be taken by the court itself.

The SC made the observation after the Jammu and Kashmir government pushed for investigation in the case against Major Aditya and said it will decide if the Major’s father’s petition to quash the FIR is maintainable or not.

Singh had said in his petition that his son, a major in 10 Garhwal Rifles, was “wrongly and arbitrarily” named in the FIR.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)