Assam: Petition Filed Against Fake Encounters at Supreme Court

An appeal against the Gauhati High Court judgment has been filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India by the petitioner advocate Arif Jwadder in the form of a Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of India.

The Gauhati High Court had on 27.01.2023 disposed off the PIL petition which was filed before it which sought an independent investigation into all the fake encounters which took from May 2021 onwards by an SIT/CBI or other independent agency to be monitored by the Gauhati High Court.

Assam government in its affidavit dated 29.09.2022 had admitted to 171 police encounters wherein 56 people died and 145 were injured from May till August 2022. The death toll has increased since then.

The court didn't give any cogent directions despite the material placed on record.

The petition has been filed through renowned public interest lawyer & civil rights activist Mr Prashant Bhushan.

Earlier, Advocate Jwadder had appealed to Gauhati High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter, however, the court rejected it on January 23 stating that no separate probe is required as the state government is already conducting separate investigations on each case.

A division bench comprising Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund had rejected the petitioner’s prayer for constitution of an SIT or hand over the probe to CBI, saying that this will happen only when a proper case is made out from the facts to demonstrate that the state government has not taken proper action in the matter or there is a deliberate attempt to shield the culprits.

Jwadder had claimed in the PIL that more than 80 “fake encounters” between Assam Police and the accused have taken place since May 2021, when Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took charge, resulting in deaths of 28 people and injuries of more than 48 others.

The people killed or injured were not dreaded criminals and the modus operandi of police has been the same in all the encounters, the PIL said.

Following the dismissal for the CBI probe into the fake encounter PIL, the advocate appealed to the Supreme Court for the same.

Also Read: Gauhati HC Dismisses PIL on Police Encounters in Assam