Supreme Court seeks report from UP Government on steps taken after killing of Atiq Ahmad, his brother

Satya Prakash

Advertisement

New Delhi, April 28

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to file a comprehensive affidavit on steps taken to probe into the dramatic killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj on April 15.

Ahmad (60) and Ashraf (49) — who were in handcuffs — were shot dead by three men posing as journalists when the two brothers were interacting with the media while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Prayagraj for a check-up on April 15 night.

A Bench led by Justice S Ravindra Bhat also directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to submit a report on the encounter in which Ahmad’s son Asad was killed along with one of his associates in Jhansi on April 13 by a special task force (ST) team of the state police.

Asking the state government to inform it about the steps taken after the report of the judicial enquiry commission headed by Justice BS Chauhan that probed into the 2020 killing of Vikas Dubey in a police encounter, the Bench posted the matter for further hearing after three weeks.

The Bench – which also included Justice Dipankar Datta – wondered how the killers got to know that Atiq and Ashraf were being taken to hospital and why they were not taken to the hospital gate in an ambulance and were made to walk.

Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who represented the UP Government, said as per the Supreme Court’s judgement, any accused in police custody must be taken for a medical examination every two days and the assailants had been going there for three days.

Noting that the state was already probing into the killings, Rohatgi said that Atiq and his entire family were embroiled in heinous crimes for the last 30 years and it’s probable that they were killed by their rivals.

“Everyone saw the killings on the television. The killers came in the guise of news photographers. They had passes, were carrying cameras, and were even carrying identity cards that were later found to be fake. There were 50 people there and more people outside. This is how they managed to kill Atique and Ashraf,” Rohatgi said, urging the Bench not to issue notice on the PIL.

Petitioner advocate Vishal Tiwari has also sought setting up an independent expert committee to probe 183 encounters in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.

The Bench said after looking into the status report filed by the UP Government, it could request the commission to look into the larger issue, if needed.

As Tiwari alleged there was a pattern to these encounters,  the Bench said, “We could always request the commission to consider some other sample cases and come out with its recommendations.”

In his petition, Tiwari said, “In a democratic society, the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing Authority. The power of punishment is only vested in the Judiciary.” Extra-judicial killings or fake police encounters have no place under the law, he contended.

Referring to Atiq’s killing, the PIL said “such actions by police are a severe threat to democracy and rule of law and lead to police state”.

When the police turn dare devils, then the entire rule of law collapses and generates fear in the mind of people against police which is very dangerous for democracy and this also results in further crime, the PIL stated.