J&K: SC orders exhumation, autopsy of youth ‘shot during protest’

The court passed the order after perusing a report submitted by state police on the circumstances leading to the killing of Shabir Ahmad Mir. The report also contained the order of the district magistrate who had directed exhumation and autopsy of the victim’s body.

Appearing for Jammu and Kashmir government, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi requested the bench that the matter be taken up after the postmortem report comes out, and that the victim’s father should join the probe. He assured the court that the probe would have the highest level of transparency.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the victim’s father, said the detailed FIR was lodged within 20 minutes of the incident, which is an unlikely thing to happen. He said the autopsy would determine whether the victim was killed in pellet firing or by a gunshot.

Abdul Rehman Mir had alleged that his son Shabir Ahmad Mir was killed by police at his home on July 10. The J&K Police has claimed that he died during the protests. Earlier, the Srinagar CJM had asked police to register an FIR against the DSP accused of killing Shabir. The decision was upheld by the High Court, but the state government challenged it in Supreme Court. The apex court stayed contempt proceedings against senior police officers for not lodging the FIR, and sought a report from J&K Police on the youth’s killing.