Shopian Firing: SC seeks AG’s assistance, no coercive action against soldiers named in FIR

The Supreme Court today ordered that no coercive action should be taken against Army personnel named in the FIR, which was registered in relation to the Shopian Firing incident..A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud passed the order in petitions filed by Major Aditya Kumar’s father Lt. Colonel (Retd.) Karamveer Singh, and one Vineet Dhanda, challenging the initiation of criminal proceedings against members of the Indian Army..Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the petitioner..The Bench also sought the assistance of Attorney General for India KK Venugopal in the matter and directed the petitioner to provide a copy of the petition to the Attorney General. The Court also directed that a copy of the petition be served on the counsel for state of Jammu & Kashmir..In his petition, Lt. Colonel Singh states that the FIR falsely implicates his son, who was not present at the place of the incident. He also goes on to defend the personnel who were there..It is stated that the Army Act 1950 is a special legislation that overrides the Code of Criminal Procedure for the state of J&K, under which the FIR was lodged. Thus, the soldiers ought to face Court Martial as per the Army Act, as opposed to being put through the regular criminal procedure..Further, the petition invokes the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA), which empowers Army personnel to use appropriate force for dispersing unruly mobs in disturbed areas. Section 6 of the AFSPA also protects soldiers form prosecution for acting in good faith..The petition also alludes to a larger conspiracy on the part of local police authorities, who “for whatever reasons have still yet not taken cognizance of these heinous crimes committed by the civilian population of Shopian”.