New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government, which last week formed a one-member judicial commission to probe the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey, on Monday told the Supreme Court that it was ready to reconstitute the probe commission, adding that it would submit in the top court, by July 22, the draft notification with respect to the changes as suggested in the inquiry panel. Also Read – Vikas Dubey Encounter: ‘Hemorrhage And Shock Due to Firearm Injuries Caused Death’, States Postmortem Report
The independent, one-member probe commission was to comprise of a retired judge, and submit its report to the state government in two months. Also Read – Vikas Dubey Encounter Case: Counter-Affidavit Alleging Institutional Bias in Appointment of SIT Filed in SC
Hearing a PIL filed seeking a court-monitored probe into the encounter, the apex court ruled out appointing a sitting judge to be a part of the probe panel. It, however, suggested the Uttar Pradesh government to reconstitute the probe panel with a retired Supreme Court judge and a retired police officer. Also Read – Vikas Dubey Killing: ‘Encounter Not Fake’, UP Police to SC; Says State Too Acted ‘as Per Law’
The court further said that the retired judge should be from Uttar Pradesh only as a judge from outside the state wouldn’t be able to go there due to the coronavirus situation.
However, it also pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government, saying that the government was responsible to maintain the rule of law, observing that the case required ‘arrests, trials and sentencing’. The bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, also remarked that it was ‘appalled’ how a person was released on bail and said that the committe should examine that aspect as well.
Last week, the Uttar Pradesh Police had told the top court that its encounter of Dubey was not fake. Dubey was killed in dubious circumstances in the early morning hours of July 10 in Kanpur, exactly a week after and in the same city where, along with his associates, he had shot dead eight policemen, including a DSP.
Having been on the run for a nearly a week, he surrendered in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain on July 9, but, as it turned out, was gunned down barely 24 hours later.
