New Delhi: As many as 350 army personnel have challenged the registration of criminal cases against security forces in several disturbed areas, expressing fears of demoralisation among soldiers and dilution of a law that grants immunity to the armed forces combating insurgency.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up the petition on August 20. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar agreed to list the matter for "urgent hearing" upon a request from advocate Aishwarya Bhatti appearing for the army personnel.

She said military operations along the border would suffer if the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is diluted in the disturbed areas.

According to the petition, "protection" and "immunity" of soldiers acting in good faith under the AFSPA are imperative while engaging with direct and proxy enemy.

In spite of the existence of the AFSPA, several criminal cases against security personnel are being registered for discharging their duties, the petitioners complained.

The petition also referred to the apex court's directive for a CBI probe into alleged extrajudicial killings by security forces in Manipur. Two individual FIRs against army officers, one in a firing incident in Shopian and the other in Manipur, have been cited in the petition.

The petitioners urged the apex court to lay down specific guidelines "to protect the bona fide action of soldiers under the AFSPA so that no soldier is harassed for discharging their duties" in "protection of the sovereignty, integrity and dignity of the country".

The government should take all steps to protect the soldiers from "persecution and prosecution by motivated and indiscriminate FIRs", it added.

Any probe, assessment or adjudication about "criminality, misuse, abuse, negligence, excessive power, judgement error, mistake... without considering the standard operating procedures of the Indian Army should be declared illegal and unconstitutional", the petition said.