Gujarat asks petitioners to explain ‘selective interest’ over fake encounters case
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, told the bench that encounters have taken place in other states also.
PTI
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Supreme Court
New Delhi, 18 Jan
Gujarat government told Supreme Court that the
petitioners who have sought a probe into the alleged fake encounters in the
state from 2002 to 2006 must explain the reasons for "selective public
interest" in raising the issue.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was hearing two separate pleas
filed in 2007 by senior journalist BG Verghese, and noted Javed Akhtar and
Shabnam Hashmi, seeking a probe into the alleged fake encounters. Verghese died
in 2014.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, told the bench that
encounters have taken place in other states also. "The petitioners will have to satisfy the court about their selective
public interest," Mehta asserted.
The apex court had earlier appointed a monitoring authority headed by former
top court judge Justice H S Bedi which had probed 17 alleged fake encounter
cases in Gujarat from 2002 to 2006.
The committee, which had submitted its report in a sealed cover in 2019,
recommended prosecution of police officials in three out of the 17 cases it
probed. During the hearing on Thursday, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of
the petitioners, said the committee report has already come before the court.
"All that is needed to be done is to prosecute those persons who have been
identified in the report," he said, adding the panel has come to a
conclusion in three cases.
The bench posted the pleas for hearing after two weeks.
In its final report filed in the apex court, the Justice Bedi committee had
said three persons -- Sameer Khan, Kasam Jafar and Haji Ismail -- were prima
facie killed in fake encounters by police.
It had indicted a total of nine police officials, including three inspector
rank officers. It, however, did not recommend prosecution of any IPS officer.
On 9 January, 2019, a bench headed by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had
rejected the Gujarat government's plea to maintain confidentiality of
the final report of the committee and ordered that it be given to petitioners.
The panel had also dealt with 14 other cases which related to alleged fake
encounter killings of Mithu Umar Dafer, Anil Bipin Misra, Mahesh, Rajeshwar,
Kashyap Harpalsingh Dhaka, Salim Gagji Miyana, Jala Popat Devipujak, Rafiksha,
Bheema Maanda Mer, Jogindrasinh Khatansing, Ganesh Khunte, Mahendra Jadav,
Subhash Bhaskar Nayyar and Sanjay.
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