Submit report on encounters,HC directs Assam
Acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Arif Jwadder, a division bench of chief justice RM Chhaya and justice Soumitra Saikia also sought the government’s response, within six weeks, on whether any independent investigation has taken place or been completed into each encounter.
The Gauhati high court on Friday directed the Assam government to file in detail an updated investigation report on police encounters in the state since May last year.
Acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Arif Jwadder, a division bench of chief justice RM Chhaya and justice Soumitra Saikia also sought the government’s response, within six weeks, on whether any independent investigation has taken place or been completed into each encounter.
The court’s directives came after civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, alleged that police had failed to follow guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court while dealing with deaths during purported encounters.
“The State shall bring on record appropriate materials indicating the progress made in each of the case and further indicate whether the guidelines issued by the Apex Court in the case of People’s Union for Civil Liberties and another Vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors., reported in (2014) 10 SCC 635 are followed in later and spirit or not,” the court directed.
The top court in 2014 in the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) vs State of Maharashtra case had laid down 16-point guidelines as set procedure to be followed while investigating cases of deaths during police encounters.
The guidelines included registering of an FIR in each case, an independent probe as well as a magisterial inquiry, information to NHRC and state human rights commission about the incident, compensation to dependants of victims etc.
Following directions from the high court, the Assam government last month had submitted an affidavit where it mentioned that 161 incidents of police encounters took place across the state between May, 2021 (when a new BJP-led government assumed office in the state) and May 21, 2022.
It also said that a total of 51 people had died and 139 had sustained injuries in those encounters. Since then, the toll has increased to 54, according to the state police.
In his PIL filed in December last year, Jwadder has sought an inquiry into the encounters by an independent agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigatio, Special Investigation Team or any police team from other states under the supervision of the court.
The petitioner also said that the deceased or injured persons were not militants and it cannot be the case that all the accused could snatch a service revolver from a trained police officer, a claim often made by police following an encounter.
Besides the Assam government, the state police, law and justice department, National Human Rights Commission and Assam Human Rights Commission have been named as respondents in the petition.
Advocate general Debajit Saikia is representing the state government in the case. The next date of hearing is September 29.
