Court to hear plea on Atiq death, UP killings

The Supreme Court will hear a plea for an independent inquiry into the killings of ex-gangster Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Uttar Pradesh. The two men were shot dead by assailants on the premises of a hospital as police took them for a medical examination. The murders were captured on video. Petitioner-advocate Vishal Tiwari also called for a probe into 183 ?encounter killings? in Uttar Pradesh since 2017. The state government has constituted a three-member judicial commission to investigate the killings of Atiq and Ashraf.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to take up on April 24 a petition demanding an independent probe into the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf while police were taking them for a medical examination in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Saturday.

Locals gather after a crude bomb was hurled near the residence of Daya Shankar Mishra, the lawyer of slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, in Prayagraj on Tuesday. (PTI)

Assailants Lavlesh Tiwari, 22, Mohit, 23, and Arun Kumar Maurya, 18, sprayed the two with bullets on the premises of a hospital as Ahmad and Ashraf were talking to the media. Policemen ring-fenced them when gunshots rang out. The murders were captured live on video.

On Tuesday, Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud agreed to list the matter on April 24 after petitioner-advocate Vishal Tiwari mentioned his plea. Apart from seeking a court-monitored inquiry into the killings of Ahmed and his brother, Tiwari has asked for a probe into the 183 “encounters killings” in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.

On March 28, a bench led by justice Ajay Rastogi had dismissed Ahmad’s plea for protection and observed that the state machinery would take care of his protection in case of a threat to his life. Ahmad was asked by the top court to approach the Allahabad high court if he had any apprehension regarding his safety.

In his plea, Tiwari cited a “severe threat to democracy and rule of law” and said in a democratic society, police cannot be allowed to become “a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing authority”. It underlined that the power of punishment is only vested in the judiciary.

The plea said extrajudicial killings or fake police encounters have no place in the law.

“When the police turn daredevils then the entire rule of law collapses and generates fear in the mind of people against the police which is very dangerous for democracy and this also results in more crimes,” the plea said.

“Issue guidelines/directions to safeguard the rule of law by constituting an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of a former Supreme Court justice to inquire into the 183 encounters which had occurred since 2017 as stated by Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) and also to inquire into the police custody murder of Atiq and Ashraf,” the petition read.

It added: “Such actions by police are a severe threat to democracy and rule of law and lead to a police state... It is not acceptable to use the police as a means of administering final judgment or as a sanctioning body.”

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday constituted a three-member judicial commission to probe the killings of Atiq and Ashraf.

A first information report (FIR) registered in the matter said the three assailants confessed that they killed Atiq and Ashraf to wipe out their gang and make a name for themselves in the state. The three were booked for murder, attempt to commit murder, using prohibited arms, carrying prohibited arms, and using arms without a licence.

The murders raised questions about how the assailants breached the police cordon in such a high-profile case or why dozens of policemen could not stop the three assailants. The three carried video cameras, microphones, and media identity cards to pose as journalists and were later overpowered. They used made-in-Turkey pistols for the killings.