Last Update: April 17, 2023, 02:23 AM IST
Jailed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead late on Saturday night (Video Grab)
The petition, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, has also sought a probe into 183 encounters in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
A day after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in police protection, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Sunday asking an independent expert committee headed by a former apex court judge to probe the killings. There was a demand for the formation of
The petition, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, has also sought a probe into 183 encounters in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
Ahmed (60) and Ashraf, who were in handcuffs, were shot at by three men posing as journalists while they were being escorted by policemen to a medical college in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh for check-up Answering the questions of journalists.
Hours before the shooting, the last rites of Ahmed’s son Asad, who was killed along with one of his accomplices in a police encounter in Jhansi on 13 April, were performed.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday said it has killed 183 alleged criminals in encounters in the six years of the government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and this includes Asad and his associates.
The petition sought formation of an independent expert committee to probe the murders of Atiq and Ashraf.
“Issue guidelines/instructions to protect the rule of law by constituting an independent expert committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge to investigate the 183 encounters that have taken place since 2017, as directed by the Special Director General of Police (Law), Uttar Pradesh. and arranged) to inquire into the custodial killing of Atiq and Ashraf as well,” it said.
Referring to the killing of Atiq, the plea said that “such action by the police poses a grave threat to democracy and the rule of law and the police state”.
“In a democratic society, the police cannot be allowed to be the ultimate judge or to become a punishing institution. The power of punishment is vested only in the judiciary,” the plea said.
The petition states that extrajudicial killings or fake police encounters have no place under the law.
When the police become “dare devils” then the entire rule of law collapses and inculcates fear in the minds of the people against the police which is very dangerous for democracy and also results in further crime.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
