The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered a stay on the FIR registered against Major Aditya Kumar of 10 Garhwal Rifles and also said that no coercive action should be taken against the Army personnel, The Indian Express has reported.

The order was passed by a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud who also sought reports from central and state governments on the incident within two weeks.

The SC was hearing a petition filed by Major Singh’s father which claimed that the firing was done to control “a savage and violent mob engaged in terrorist activity”. He also claimed that petition was necessary “for protecting the morale of the soldiers of Indian Army, who are facing all odds in performance of their bonafide duties and laying their lives in the line of duty, to uphold the dignity of the Indian flag”.

The Jammu and Kashmir (JnK) police had registered an FIR against the Army Major and his unit when the unit fired to save a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) from being lynched by a stone-pelting mob, leading to three deaths.

The petition further reads, “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”.

JnK Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had earlier said in the assembly that the FIR would be taken to its logical conclusion.

JnK BJP MLAs had protested the FIR in the assembly and had called for it to be quashed saying that it will demoralise the Army soldiers stationed in the state, and asked for an FIR to be registered against the stone pelters instead.

JnK National Panthers Party (JKNPP) activists too had demanded the FIR against the Army to be withdrawn.