SC seeks report within 3 months on 'fake encounters' in Gujarat

In what could spell trouble for the Narendra Modi led Gujarat government, the Supreme Court has asked the monitoring authority to investigate incidents of alleged extra-judicial killings in the state perpetrated between 2002-06 and submit a report within three months.

"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 two writ petitions", said a bench comprising Justice Aftab Alam and Justice CK Prasad said on Wednesday.

"We want the investigation to be thorough so that truth in each case is revealed". It was hearing petitions filed by journalist BG Verghese and lyricist Javed Akhtar, which alleged that Muslims were picked up by the police and shot dead after branding them terrorists.

The state government, had appointed former judge of the Supreme Court MB Shah last April to monitor the investigations into the alleged incidents of the extra-judicial killings in the state. The apex court, said, it will be open for the chairman of the monitoring authority to constitute an independent team either with officer from Gujarat Special Task Force or from outside the state.

It will also be open for the chairman of the monitoring authority to call the police records on such cases or records from the human rights bodies in respect of any encounter death, the bench said.

The judges, however, clarified that monitoring authority will not go into the cases which were being investigated by other agencies in pursuance of the apex court order. It further, said, the chairman of the monitoring authority, if so desires, could give hearing to petitioners in the case or kin of the victims of encounter deaths.