Telangana encounter deaths: SC orders judicial inquiry, to be headed by its ex-judge VS Sirpurkar

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court appointed a three-member inquiry commission headed by former apex court judge VS Sirpurkar to conduct an independent probe into the December 6 “encounter” killings, in which Telangana police shot dead four men accused in a case of gang-rape and murder of a woman veterinarian.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde said on Thursday that the police version needed a probe to establish the facts though the court “won’t close its eyes to what the boys might have done”.

The court gave the commission, which includes former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Prakash Baldota and former Central Bureau of Investigation director DR Karthikeyan, six months to submit its report.


The CJI also issued notices to the electronic media, the Press Council of India and news agency PTI in connection with the coverage of the case. “The media attempts to examine evidence and influence cases,” said the bench.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi presented the police version of how the accused were killed.