The Supreme Court on 11 December will hear the Public Interest Litigation filed by Advocates G S Mani and Pradeep Kumar Yadav, seeking an independent probe into the alleged encounter of the four accused in the rape and murder of the veterinary doctor in Hyderabad. The court shall probe into the matter and the analysis of the High court of Hyderabad, said the Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde.
The Cyberabad Police Commissioner, V C Sajjanar informed the media that the four accused namely – Chenthakunta Chennakeshavulu, Mohammed Arif, Jollu Naveen, and Jolly Shiva, were escorted to the crime scene for a re-construction as part of the investigation, in the early hours on 6 December 2019. However, the accused had to be gunned down by the police, when they snatched the weapons and started firing at the police personnel to escape the reconstruction site.
The PIL claims that the said encounter was staged and suspect a foul play in the incident to divert the public reaction, possible to protect the real culprits. “Since there is a chance of tempering the evidence and destroying the material documents by the concerned police officers who are in high level, this Hon’ble Court may hear the PIL writ petition on an urgent basis and pass an appropriate order accordingly in the interest of the justice”, prompted the Petitioners.
“It would be a fallacy to even imagine that some kind of justice has been served by abandoning all due process and committing such killings. Is it permissible for police personnel to play judge, jury, executioner and mete out fatal justice in this manner? Is the ‘satisfying of the collective conscience’ in such a brazenly unlawful and murderous way healthy for a democracy? This is an absolute violation of rule of law and constitutional guarantees,” the petition noted.
