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Supreme Court forms 3-member panel to probe Telangana encounter
Former SC judge VS Sirpurkar will head the panel, a CJI-led bench said. Retired Bombay HC judge Rekha Baldota and former CBI director D R Karthikeyan are the other two members.
The Supreme Court on Thursday constituted a three-member inquiry commission to investigate the killing of four men last week days after they were arrested for allegedly raping and murdering a 26-year-old veterinary doctor on the outskirts of Hyderabad on November 27. The panel has been directed to complete its probe within six months and submit a report.
Former SC judge VS Sirpurkar will head the panel, a CJI-led bench said. Retired Bombay HC judge Rekha Baldota and former CBI director D R Karthikeyan are the other two members.
The panel was constituted a day after Bobde asked the Telangana government to suggest the name of a retired SC judge while hearing a petition by lawyers G S Mani and Pradeep Kumar Yadav seeking an independent investigation into the killings.
The Telangana police shot dead the four accused in the 26-year-old woman veterinarian doctor’s rape and murder case last week. Police have insisted that the four were killed in an exchange of fire on December 6 .
“Whatever I know about the incident is through media reports. It would not be correct on my part to comment except saying that it sounds shocking, “I look at it as an essential duty bestowed upon me by the Supreme Court,’’ Sirpurkar said.
Sirpurkar has an experience of 22 years as a judge. He retired in August 2011 after serving as a SC judge for a little over four years.
In September 2010, he was nominated as the head of a panel constituted to look into the alleged land-grabbing charges against a sitting judge, PD Dinakaran. Sirpurkar recused himself after a body of advocates from Chennai requested him to opt out saying both the judges had worked together in Madras HC. Sirpurkar’s notable judgements as a SC judge include the confirmation of the death sentence of Pakistani national Mohammad Arif for the 2000 Red Fort attack in Delhi. Before his elevation to the SC, Sirpukar served as chief justice of the Uttarakhand HC.
The court in its order clarified that no other court or authority should probe into the matter “pending the commission of inquiry”. However, it said that the orders passed by the Telangana HC directing preservation of the bodies of the four accused shall continue until further SC orders. The court also stated that the probe being conducted by the SIT constituted by the state government can continue.
The order passed by the Supreme Court resulted in confusion at the Telangana HC which is hearing a batch of PILs on this matter. “The HC has asked the advocate general of Telangana to mention the matter before the CJI on Friday morning for clarity”, advocate Vrinda Grover who is representing one of the petitioners before the high court told HT.
