SC stays HCorder for booking DSP

R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 9 

The Supreme Court today advised the Jammu and Kashmir government and the police to have a humane approach while handling the current unrest in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. 

“You should be seen to be treating the people with love and affection,” a Bench comprising Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

The Bench made the remark while directing the state government to investigate the murder complaint against Deputy Superintendent of Police Yasir Qadri without suspending or arresting him and submit its probe report in a sealed cover on August 12.

Mehta, however, pleaded that anti-national elements were instigating people to file false cases of murder against police personnel to demoralise the security forces. The security personnel were dealing with a difficult situation and their modus operandi was in the national interest, he contended.

The Bench was hearing an appeal by the state government and the police, challenging an order of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court upholding Srinagar Judicial Magistrate’s directive for filing an FIR against DSP Qadri.

The apex court stayed the High Court’s order for an FIR on a complaint by a man whose 26-year-old son Shabir Ahmad Mir was allegedly shot dead by the police officer.

Attorney General Rohatgi said the murder complaint against the DSP would be investigated as part of the first FIR pertaining to the violent protests against the killing of the Hizb commander.

The registration of a fresh FIR would demoralise the security forces and would amount to playing into the hands of those inimical to the national integrity, Rohatgi pleaded.

The state had also challenged the High Court’s move to initiate contempt proceedings against top policemen for failing to register an FIR against the DSP. The apex court stayed this order as well.