"Not Good For Rule Of Law": SC On Assam Fake Encounters

Hearing a special leave petition on fake encounters in Assam, Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Tuesday noted that it was "not good for the rule of law" for accused persons to be losing their lives in the alleged manner.

Justice Bhuyan said, "...it is not a good thing for rule of law that so many accused are just losing their lives like that!"

Justice Surya Kant, who was also part of the bench hearing the special leave petition against a Gauhati High Court order, where the PIL firled by the petitioner raising the same matter had been dismissed. The high court was of the view that separate probe into the alleged incidents was not required as the state authorities were investigating in each case.

The Supreme Court posted the matter for the next hearing on October 22 to allow the Assam government to file its counter-affidavit.

During the hearing, Justice Kant mentioned that the Court is looking to form a commission and asked for suggestions of names of retired judges.

Meanwhile, Assam Additional Advocate General Nalin Kohli told the court that no police personnel alleged to have any involvement in an encounter has been promoted, to which Justice Bhuyan reacted saying that it is not a good thing for the rule of law that accused persons are losing their lives "just like that".

Assam advocate Arif Md Yeasin Jwadder filed the plea to raise the matter of Assam Police's alleged fake encounters. According to Jwaddar, more than staged encounters occurred in Assam in different cases since May 2021 under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's term. He sought an independent inquiry by agencies like CBI, SIT or a police team from other states.

A notice was issued on the petition on July 17, 2023, seeking the response from National Human Rights Commission, Assam Human Rights Commission and the Assam government.

The court suggested in April that the petitioner placed on record additional information regarding the matter. He filed the affidavits of victims of Tinsukia encounter case where three people — Deepjyoti Neog, Biswanath Burgohain and Manoj Buragohain were allegedly injured in police firing.

The family members of two victims — Biswanath and Manoj in the Tinsukia case wanted to lodge a missing persons report. However, the officer-in-charge of the police station under which the incident took place, refused to register the complaint unless they mentioned that the victims were going to join the banned insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent). An FIR was rather lodged against the victims after the encounter took place, stated Jwadder.

Moreover, the Dholla Police Station in-charge appointed himself as the Investigating Officer in the case, even though he was present at the scene of the encounter and it was his pistol that had been allegedly snatched by one of the victims — Deepjyoti Neog.

Also Read: Assam Fake Encounters: Govt Seeks More Time To Submit Affidavit With SC