The Gauhati High Court (HC) has asked the Assam Government to file a detailed affidavit on the alleged fake encounters being conducted in the State by Assam Police since May last year. The detailed affidavit is to be filed by the Secretary (Home) or the Additional Secretary (Home) within two weeks.
The order was passed by a bench of Chief Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Soumitra Saikia in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Arif Jwadder in December 2021, that says 80 alleged fake encounters incidents have happened in Assam since May 2021, resulting in 28 deaths and 48 injuries. Senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General of India, Indira Jaising on January 11, appeared on behalf of the petitioner who sought independent probe into the alleged fake encounters in Assam.
Advocate General of Assam Devajit Lon Saikia appearing for the State informed that magisterial inquiry was being held. Jaising, arguing for the matter, informed the Court that there is no such information available and urged the Court to direct the State to upload FIRs on their website, if any lodged. Lawyer Arif Jwadder has sought an order from the High Court for the registration of an FIR in the alleged fake encounter cases and an independent investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or a police team from another state, under the supervision of the Court.
In his PIL, Jwadder also sought a judicial inquiry by a sitting Judge of the Gauhati HC into the alleged encounters and monetary compensation to the families of the victims after due verification. Besides the State Government, Assam Police, the Department of Law and Justice, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Assam Human Rights Commission had been named as respondents in the petition. In July last year, Jwadder had filed a complaint against such incidents with the NHRC. The commission had sought a report from the Assam Police in September. In November, NHRC transferred the case to the Assam Human Rights Commission.
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