New Delhi: The Supreme Court said Tuesday it may consider appointing a committee headed by a former judge. It will inquire into the encounters of gangster Vikas Dubey and his associates as well as the killing of eight policemen in Uttar Pradesh.
The Uttar Pradesh government told a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde that it would file a status report by July 16 detailing the steps taken by the authority on the matter. The apex court was hearing the pleas on the incidents, including those seeking a court-monitored probe into the encounters.
The bench, also comprising Justices RS Reddy and AS Bopanna, observed that monitoring of investigation is something which the court is very reluctant to do.
The bench said it may consider doing something similar to what was done in the case of encounter of four accused in the gangrape and murder case of a veterinarian in Telangana. It had appointed an inquiry commission headed by a former apex court judge.
“List these matters on July 20. The petitioners-in-person are directed to serve a copy of their respective petition upon Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General appearing for the respondent(s), forthwith,” the bench noted in its order. It said that Mehta, who was appearing for Uttar Pradesh, ‘may file reply affidavit’ on the pleas by July 16.
Eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey. They fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight July 3.
Dubey was killed in an encounter in the morning of July 10. He was shot dead when he tried to escape after the police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident.
Four policemen, including an inspector posted in Nawabganj, were injured in the July 10 accident, IG, Kanpur Range, Mohit Agarwal had said.
The police claimed that Dubey, the prime accused in the ambush in which cops were killed, was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.
Prior to Dubey’s encounter, five of his alleged associated were killed in separate shootouts.