SC stays probe on Major Aditya Singh, says he's no criminal

Major Aditya Singh is an Army officer and not an ordinary criminal, the Supreme Court said on Monday, while staying the J&K police's investigation into the January 27 firing in South Kashmir's Shopian where three civilians had been killed.

The stay will be applicable till April 24 when the court is likely to give its ruling. This was after the state police informed a three-judge bench that Singh has been named in the FIR as an officer leading his unit and not as an accused.

"Let the matter be listed for final disposal on April 24. In the meantime, there shall be no investigation on the basis of the FIR," the bench said. "After all, it is a case of an Army officer, not an ordinary criminal," Chief Justice Dipak Misra said.

On February 12, the court had asked the state police not to take any coercive action against Singh, after Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh sought quashing of the FIR against his son and other Army personnel.

He had said that his son was merely doing his duty but was "wrongly and arbitrarily" named in the FIR.