The Supreme Court on Monday said it would look into systemic problems instead of individual issues arising out of the killings of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf and other encounters in Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar took into account the submission by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who said a detailed status report has been prepared on behalf of the state government.
The counsel said that the court may go through it and fix the matter for a hearing.
Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who filed a PIL for an independent probe into the encounter deaths, sought permission to file a rejoinder. He contended that there is suppression of material facts by the state government in the status report.
A counsel, appearing for Atiq Ahmad's sister Aisha Noori, sought pass over of the matter.
The bench, however, said it would look into her plea on the next date, as the court was at the moment concerned with systemic problems instead of individual cases.
The court posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.
In its status report filed on June 30, the Uttar Pradesh government submitted that it is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring a "thorough, impartial and timely investigation" into the death of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf.
Former Phulpur MP Atiq and his ex-MLA brother Ashraf were shot dead in police custody in full media glare on April 15, 2023, by three assailants disguised as media persons.
After the incident, the state government formed a one-man Judicial Inquiry Commission, which was expanded on April 25, 2023.
The Commission functioned under the Chairmanship of former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhonsle, with Justice Virender Singh (former Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court) as Vice-Chairman, and Justice (Retd) Arvind Kumar Tripathi - II (former judge, Allahabad High Court), Subesh Kumar Singh, IPS (retd) (Former DG, UP) and Brijesh Kumar Soni, retired District Judge, as its members.
On June 23, the Commission, which is yet to examine additional 45 witnesses and hear advocates for the interested parties, has been granted a three-month extension upon its request to submit its report by September 24, 2023. A separate judicial inquiry and probe by police Special Investigation Team were also on, it said.