Supreme Court Calls for Action on Custodial Deaths, Slams Uttar Pradesh Government

Following the unfortunate murders of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in police detention in Prayagraj on April 15, the Supreme Court slammed the Uttar Pradesh government, saying that “someone is complicit.” The court has also requested a thorough report on 183 “police encounters” that have taken place since 2017, which is a crucial measure that raises questions about the validity of these operations, according to PTI.

According to the Uttar Pradesh police, since the Yogi Adityanath administration took office in March 2017, a startling 183 people have perished in a series of police encounters. These interactions, however, have long been the subject of debate, with detractors charging that they were manipulated for political purposes. In a harsh letter to the UP government, the bench of Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar demanded the filing of a thorough affidavit within six weeks that included information of each encounter, the status of the investigations, the charges brought, and the status of the trials.

The bench expressed concern about the circumstances of Ahmad’s death and questioned the mysterious security breakdown, saying, “There were 5 to 10 personnel protecting him (Atiq)… Who could simply go up and start shooting? What causes this to occur? There is a complicit party. The court also carefully considered Aisha Noori’s request for a full inquiry into the murders of her brothers. Aisha is Ahmad’s sister.

The court accepted the state government’s current committee while rejecting a plea for an impartial judicial commission of inquiry. Notably, the top court had already consented to consider requests, including Aisha Noori’s, for the creation of a commission to look into the “extra-judicial” death of her brothers. The panel would be headed by a retired apex court judge.

During a media interview, Ahmad (60) and Ashraf were fatally murdered by three people who were acting as journalists. The whole incident was shown on national television. The Uttar Pradesh government has pledged a thorough investigation in response to mounting pressure, highlighting actions taken in the wake of the incident, including addressing the recommendations of the Justice B S Chauhan Commission that looked into the encounter death of gangster Vikas Dubey in 2020.