Photo: PTI/ Supreme Court of India
Guwahati, Sept. 11: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday, while hearing a special leave petition (SLP) against an order of the Gauhati High Court on alleged fake encounters in Assam, said that the manner in which accused are losing their lives doesn’t align with “the rule of law”.
Justice Surya Kant, part of the bench with Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, made the statement during the hearing of a special leave petition (SLP) following the dismissal of a petition of Delhi-based Assam advocate Arif Jwadder by the Gauhati High Court on the issue.
The Supreme Court also said that it intends to form a Commission to look into the matter, following which the matter was adjourned to October 22, enabling the government to produce its counter-affidavit.
Earlier, Jwadder had filed a petition related to the alleged fake encounters carried out by the Assam police and had sought an independent inquiry through agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a Special Investigation Team (SIT), or a police team from another state.
Reportedly, the Gauhati High Court was of the view that no independent probe is required into the matter as the state government was conducting its own investigation into each case.
Additionally, Jwadder’s petition had highlighted 80 encounters in the state since May 2021.
A notice was issued by the Supreme Court on the petition, seeking response from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and the Assam government into the matter.
In April, the Supreme Court suggested that the petitioner put forward on record some additional information related to the matter.
Following the same, advocate Jwadder is said to have filed affidavits of victims of the Tinsukia encounter case of December 2023 where three persons - Deepjyoti Neog, Biswanath Borgohain, and Manoj Buragohain - were allegedly injured in police firing.
The rising incidents of custodial deaths and extra-judicial killings in Assam have drawn significant scrutiny in recent times.
In August, the Hmar Women Association, representing the Hmar women community, submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, calling for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged extra-judicial actions by the Assam Police linked to the deaths of three Hmar individuals on July 16.
Earlier, in May, the death of a 42-year-old man outside a police outpost in Lakhimpur ignited widespread protests among the local population.
