New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday sought a reply from the Assam government and others on a plea challenging a Gauhati High Court order, declining to entertain a PIL on police encounters after chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma came to power in May 2021.
Advocate Arif Md Yeasin Jwadder filed an appeal before the apex court challenging the high court order. A bench comprising justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar issued notices to the state government, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and others. The PIL claimed that as per police statements published in newspapers, in every case the accused tried to snatch police personnel service weapons and in self-defence, police retaliated.
The PIL filed before the apex court contended that more than 80 “fake encounters” took place between Assam police and those accused in different cases since May 2021, and 28 people died and many were injured. The plea argued that those killed or injured were not dreaded criminals, and the police’s modus operandi has been the same in all the encounters.
The petitioner sought a direction for a probe by either CBI or SIT, or a police team from other states under court supervision. In January, the high court had junked the PIL after noting that the state government is already conducting separate investigations in each case and no other separate probe is needed.
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