All Gujarat encounter cases under SC scanner

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the monitoring authority headed by retired apex court judge MB Shah to enquire into all police encounters that took place in Gujarat between 2003 and 2006 and file a report within three months.
However, the apex court also clarified that the monitoring authority will not go into the encounter cases that are being investigated by other agencies on the orders of the apex court. The apex court bench of justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad issued this order while hearing petitions filed by writer Javed Akhtar, social activist Shabnam Hashmi and journalist BG Verghese.
In April last year, the Gujarat government had set up a special task force (STF) headed by retired justice MB Shah to monitor the investigation into the alleged fake encounters under the Narendra Modi government.
“Having regard to the fact that a monitoring authority has been put in place and a former judge of this court is its chairman, we desire the chairman to look into all instances of the alleged fake encounters mentioned in the two writ petitions. We want the investigation to be thorough so that the truth in each case is revealed,” the apex court bench said.
The petitioners had sought an enquiry into the killing of 20 people in 12 different encounters which had taken place between 2003 and 2006. These include the killing of two fidayeen attackers by National Security Guard (NSG) commandos during the terror attack on Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar.
However, legal experts familiar with the development said that though the petitioners had sought a probe into the killing of 20 people, the enquiry would be limited to only 13 people killed in various encounters. The Ishrat Jahan, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Tulsiram Prajapati and Sadik Jamal encounter cases will not be investigated by the monitoring authority headed by justice MB Shah.
The three encounters in which Ishrat Jahan, Sohrabuddin and Tulsi Prajapati were killed have already been proved fake. They are currently being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the orders of the Gujarat high court and the Supreme Court, respectively. The Sadik Jamal encounter case is also being investigated by the CBI on the orders of the Gujarat high court.
The Supreme Court further said in its order that justice MB Shah would be free to constitute an independent team with officers of either the Special Task Force (STF) constituted by the state government or from outside.
The apex court further said that the chairman of the monitoring authority will be free to call for earlier police and case records or records from human rights bodies regarding any encounter death mentioned in the writ petitions.
The court also said that the head of the monitoring authority, if he so desires, could give hearing to petitioners in the case or the kin of the victims of encounter deaths.
The petitions seeking investigation into the encounter cases by an independent agency or the CBI were filed in 2007. During the hearing of the petitions, Gujarat advocate-general Tushar Mehta had objected to a probe by any outside agency.
He submitted before the apex court that "the Gujarat government has already formed an STF to probe the encounter cases and the probe shall be handed over only to the STF."
Mehta further stated that the petitioners Javed Akhtar and Shabnam Hashim had nothing to do with Gujarat. "Why is their conscience pricking them for encounters in Gujarat, despite the facts that encounters had also occurred in other states, including Maharashtra, to which they belong," Mehta had contended. Meanwhile, reacting to the Supreme Court order, Nitya Ramakrishnan, counsel for BG Verghese, said: "The court has asked justice Shah committee to file a preliminary report. The court still has the matter before it for consideration." She further said that justice Shah will be free to appoint team members for the probe, can order a probe and also recommend compensation, if he deems it fit to do so.