Gujarat ‘Fake’ Encounters: State Tells SC Petitioners to Provide Justification for ‘Selective Public Interest’

The Gujarati government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that the petitioners who have requested an investigation into the purportedly fraudulent encounters that took place in the state between 2002 and 2006 must provide justification for their “selective public interest” in bringing up the matter.

A group of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta were deliberating on two distinct appeals submitted in 2007 by prominent lyricists Javed Akhtar and Shabnam Hashmi, veteran journalist BG Verghese, and others, requesting an investigation into the purportedly staged encounters. 2014 saw Verghese’s demise.

In his appearance on behalf of the state, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that encounters had also occurred in other states.

The petitioners assert that they want an inquiry of a few incidents that occurred in the state of Gujarat over a certain time frame. Why the public’s selective interest? “They must respond to that,” he informed the bench.

Mehta said, “The petitioners will have to persuade the court regarding their selective public interest.”

A monitoring committee led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice H S Bedi was previously established by the highest court and looked into 17 claims of fictitious encounters in Gujarat between 2002 and 2006.

In 2019, the committee recommended the prosecution of police personnel in three out of the seventeen instances it looked at. The report was sent in under secrecy.

The committee said in its final report, which was submitted to the Supreme Court, that three people were allegedly slain by the Gujarat Police in fictitious encounters. Representing one of the petitioners, attorney Prashant Bhushan said at the Thursday hearing that the committee report was already in front of the court.

He said, “The panel has reached a prima facie conclusion in three cases. All that is needed to be done is to prosecute those who have been identified in the report.”

The bench noted that “the matter is required to be heard” and posted the petitions for hearing two weeks later.

The Gujarati government has previously expressed concerns over the petitioners’ locus standi.

The Justice Bedi committee said in its final report, which was submitted to the supreme court, that Sameer Khan, Kasam Jafar, and Haji Ismail were presumed to have been slain by police in fictitious encounters. Nine police officers in all, including three inspector rank officers, have been indicted by it. It did not, however, suggest that any IPS officers be prosecuted.

On January 9, 2019, a bench led by former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi rejected the Gujarat government’s request to keep the committee’s final report secret and ordered that it be provided to the petitioners.

In addition, 14 other cases involving the purported fake encounter deaths of Salim Gagji Miyana, Anil Bipin Misra, Mahesh, Rajeshwar, Jogindrasinh Khatansing, Ganesh Khunte, Mahendra Jadav, Subhash Bhaskar Nayyar, Mithu Umar Dafer, and Jala Popat Devipujak were handled by the panel.