Hyderpora encounter: Jk HC allows family to offer prayers at Amir Magray's grave

Court allowed Lateef Magray, father of the slain Amir Magray, to pray at his son's grave while disallowing the request to exhume the body for performing last rites at their native village. The bench also upheld the compensation of Rs 5 lakh against the appeal from the government.

Srinagar (J&K):High court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Friday directed the administration to allow family of Amir Magray to perform fatiha khawani (religious rituals) at the grave of the slain youth in Kupwara while upholding Rs 5 lakh compensation to the kin.

The court, however, declined to accept the prayer for exhumation of his body. Magray was killed during a controversial gunfight in Hyderpora last year. A division bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Javed Wani, while disposing of an appeal by the state against a single bench order, upheld the compensation amount.

"It is made clear that the payment of the said compensation by the appellants to the respondent no. 1 shall not form a precedence for future ...," the bench said on its 11-page order. The court also directed the government to allow the father and nine other relatives of the deceased youth to perform fatiha (prayers) at grave of Magray at Wadar Payeen in Handwara area of north Kashmir.

Lateef Magray, father of Amir Magray, had filed a writ petition seeking exhumation of his son's body and also demanded it be handed over to the family for performing last rites at his native village. The single bench had allowed the petition and also awarded compensation of Rs 5 lakh.

The state appealed against the order in Supreme Court which stayed the exhumation but asked the state to appeal before a larger bench of the high court. The division bench agreed with the state counsel's agreement that the exhumation was not feasible as the body would start decomposing soon after burial.

It also noted that the father of the deceased had given up on the plea for exhumation of the body before the Supreme Court. Aamir Magray (23) was among four persons killed in the shootout on November 15 last year. Police had claimed that all four including the businessman-owner of the building and the tenant of the premises where the encounter took place were militants or overground workers.

However, protests by families of the slain men and political parties led to the government returning bodies of Altaf Bhat, the building owner, and Mudasir, the tenant, after three days. However, police insisted that Magray was involved in supporting terror and did not return his body.

Meanwhile, the petitioner was not satisfied with the court's decision. "My client is unsatisfied with the decision as such we are approaching the Supreme Court tomorrow only," Advocate Deepika Rajawat told ETV Bharat. (with Agency inputs)