Despite the Jammu and Kashmir government’s claim for immunity from criminal prosecution to police officers compelled to use fire power to fatal ends in the line of duty, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the State to investigate the death of a 26-year-old man allegedly at the hands of the police in the tensed Valley State.
A Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Amitava Roy ordered the State authorities to complete the probe on the basis of a complaint made by the victim’s father that his son was killed by the police inside his house and not during protests.
The apex court asked the State to submit its investigation report in a sealed cover by August 12.
The case concerned the death of Shabir Ahmad Mir at Tengpora in the Batamaloo area of Srinagar on July 10.
A-G’s contentionAttorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the State government, vehemently argued that an FIR could not be lodged against police officers for deaths caused while trying to control “violent” mobs. He contended that an FIR had already been lodged on the stone-pelting incident and a “second FIR” could not be separately lodged now in this case.
Additional Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for senior police officers facing contempt action for not lodging the FIR on Mir’s father’s complaint, said the violence in the Valley was fuelled by anti-national interests.
Charge against separatistsHe submitted that an investigation was in order to ferret out the motives and modus operandi behind these incidents. He argued that separatists were instigating complaints against police officers in a bid to demoralise them.
Issuing notice to Mir’s father, the Bench, acting on a plea made by the State, stayed contempt proceedings against the Senior Superintendent of Police and the Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) for not lodging the FIR against police officers.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, had directed the SSP on July 18 to file an FIR against police officers accused of the youth’s death.
