HYDERABAD: Senior counsel Desai Prakash Reddy, who is the amicus curiae in the case of wrongful encounter of suspects in the Disha rape and murder case, on Monday suggested the Telangana High Court register an FIR of murder against the 10 police officers who took part in the encounter.
Following the encounter on December 6, 2019, in which Mohammed Arif, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakesavul were killed, the High Court was flooded with petitions seeking a probe into the killings and levy of the murder charge on the cops.
When the issue went to the Supreme Court, it constituted the Justice V.S. Sirpurkar Commission for an inquiry, which submitted a report, following which the top court remanded the case back to the Telangana High Court on May 20, 2022, for further action.
The Sirpurkar Report faulted the police and concluded that the acts committed by the policemen were done in furtherance of a common intention to kill the suspects.
Prakash Reddy submitted to the court that the report posed suspicions over the police’s contention that they opened fire to save themselves from a sudden attack by the accused.
He submitted as per the Supreme Court guidelines, registration of an FIR on charges of murder, under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), was a must in the encounter killing cases. Hence, the case has to be filed against the police officers, he said, suggesting a probe by an independent agency, such as the CBI.
M. Venkanna, the counsel for one of the petitioners, argued that Section 176(1)(a) of the CrPC necessitates a judicial inquiry in an encounter or rape case, besides a police inquiry. But, the Telangana Police failed to follow the rule, he said.
Senior counsels S. Niranjan Reddy, appearing for the police officers association, and Kondam Vivek Reddy, representing Disha’s father, requested the court to allow them to hear their submissions also. The court said it will consider their implead petitions, stating that the law does not prescribe ‘eye for eye’ concepts.
The matter was adjourned to March 29, on the request of the state government, which submitted that senior counsel Neeraj Kishan Kaul from Delhi will appear on behalf of it.
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