SC to hear plea to quash FIR against Army on Monday
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the plea filed by the father of Major Aditya Kumar, named in an FIR by Jammu and Kashmir Police in civilian killings during a firing incident, for quashing the case because it will hurt the Army's morale in fighting terrorism in the state.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra posted the matter for hearing on February 12, after petitioner's advocate Aishwarya Bhati sought urgent hearing of the case.
Major Kumar and other soldiers of 10 Garhwal Rifles have been accused of opening fire and fatally injuring three civilians when a stone-pelting mob attacked an army convoy near Ganowpora village in Shopian district on January 27.
The FIR would hurt the morale of Army personnel in discharging the duty, Lt Col Karamveer Singh said in his plea filed on Thursday through advocate Aishwarya Bhati.
"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 state.
It said that Major Kumar was wrongly and arbitrarily named as the incident relates to an Army convoy on bonafide military duty in an area under the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Acts), 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 escape.
"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 behavior 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 adequate compensation.
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah mocks PM Modi’s vow to track, punish terrorists
Chamarajanagar (Karnataka), Apr 25 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that India would identify, track, and punish every terrorist and their backers responsible for the Pahalgam attack “beyond their imagination.”
Siddaramaiah pointed out that Modi had made a similar statement after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which killed over 40 soldiers.
"This happened even after he made the same statement in 2019. What did he say after the Pulwama terror attack? After that statement, 27 people were killed in Pahalgam by terrorists. He had then said he would wipe out terrorism. What happened?" Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
Responding to a query, he said he had no information about what transpired at the all-party meeting held on Thursday in New Delhi. "There were a lot of people around me, and I couldn’t follow it properly."
"It’s a central intelligence failure," Siddaramaiah alleged.
Terrorists opened fire at a tourist spot near Pahalgam in Kashmir on the afternoon of April 22, killing 26 people—mostly tourists—in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike.
