The Supreme Court has taken up a plea alleging fake police encounters in Assam and has sought responses from the Assam government, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and the Assam Human Rights Commission. The petition, filed by advocate Arif Md Yeasin Jwadder, challenges a Gauhati High Court order that declined to entertain a PIL on police encounters following the assumption of power by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in May 2021.
Jwadder, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, has claimed that media reports and police statements suggest that accused individuals were killed or injured in encounters after attempting to snatch police service weapons, resulting in the police retaliating in self-defence by opening fire. The petitioner contends that these encounters are "fake" and that over 80 such incidents have occurred since May 2021, resulting in the death of 28 people and causing injuries to many others.
The plea argues that those killed or injured in these encounters were not dreaded criminals and alleges that the police have followed a consistent modus operandi in all the encounters. The petitioner seeks a direction from the court for a probe by either the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a Special Investigation Team (SIT), or a police team from another state, under court supervision.
In response to the PIL, the Gauhati High Court had rejected the plea, noting that the state government was already conducting investigations in each case and that no separate probe was necessary.
The Supreme Court, comprising a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar, has issued notices to the Assam government, the NHRC, and the Assam Human Rights Commission, seeking their responses to the plea. The court will now examine the matter and consider the arguments presented by the petitioner and the respondents.
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