A three-judge bench of Supreme Court headed by the CJI SA Bodbe, while hearing a petition regarding the killings of 8 policemen and the subsequent encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey asked the State government to induct a former Judge of SC and HC and a retired police officer in the committee, which was probing the encounter of Vikas Dubey.
The apex court said that it was very appalled after knowing that Vikas Dubey got bail, despite so many cases were pending against him and also observed that it is the duty of the state to uphold the law.
The petition filed by the PUCL raised some doubt regarding the independence of the committee and contended that the state government should not have any role in the committee and it must work directly under the Control of the SC or an independent agency, such as NIA or CBI. Prashant Bhusan appearing on the behalf of the petitioner, and argued that the members of the committee should be appointed by the court.
Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh another advocate appearing on behalf of PUCL sought independent investigations into huge numbers of encounters happened in the state of UP, and also pointed towards the lackadaisical working of the committee which is currently investigating the Hyderabad encounters however the CJI observed that there are many issues related to encounter in UP, which should be dealt, later.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing DG of UP differentiated the Vikas Dubey’s encounter with that of Hyderabad encounter and further contended that the committee appointed by the court would demoralize the police department. However, the CJI was not convinced and said that the rule of law can’t demoralize the police and its duty of the police to uphold the law.
Further, the court directed Harish Salve to bring the names of retired Judges and police officers for appointment in the committee and directed the Solicitor General to look into the issues raised by Mr. Parikh.
This news has been written and submitted by Mr. Sourav during his course of internship at B&B Associates LLP. Mr. Sourav is a third-year law student at the Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur.
