SC proposes to appoint ex-judge to probe Hyd encounter

The Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed to appoint a former top court judge to inquire into the encounter deaths of four accused in the sensational rape and murder case of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad.

A bench presided over by Chief Justice S A Bobde said, "We are conscious of the fact that Telangana High Court had taken up the matter. What we propose to do is to appoint a former Supreme Court judge to inquiry into the matter."

The bench, also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, asked the counsel to suggest names of a former judge for it.

CJI said former judge, Justice P V Reddi was contacted but he had declined.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Telangana government, submitted that we have complied with the apex court's directions passed in the PUCL judgment with regard to encounter cases. He also said that he should be heard before passing any judgement for appointment of a former judge.

The court was hearing two PILs filed by advocates G S Mani and Mukesh Kumar Sharma for probe into the incident of last Friday.

The Telangana High Court had already admitted a petition in this regard. The top court posted the matter for consideration on Thursday.

In the PILs, the petitioners sought a probe either by the CBI or the Special Investigation Team against the police officers, including V C Sajjanar, IPS, Cyberabad police commissioner, who have “killed the four accused in the early morning hours only to satisfy the larger public anguish or might have killed them to protect the real culprit”.

Maintaining that no one including the police has a right to punish any accused without due process of law, the advocates said that if this type of activities was allowed, there would be no meaning of civilized societies and there would be no hope that we all were governed by rule of law.