The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear in the presence of the police a plea seeking setting up of an independent expert committee to probe the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on April 24. The independent expert committee will be headed by a former Judge of the Supreme Court.
The two were shot at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists during their interaction with the media on Saturday night when police personnel were taking them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a check-up.
The UP Police was in the dock for its claim that it had conducted ‘183’ encounters in the last six months.
The petition sought setting up of an independent expert committee to probe the murder 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 probe the 183 encounters that have taken place since 2017, as directed by the Special Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh ( Law and order) and also investigate the custodial killing of Atiq and Ashraf.
what argued
Referring to Atiq’s killing, the petition said “such action by the police poses a grave threat to democracy and rule of law and leads to a police state”. The plea states, “In a democratic society, the police cannot be allowed to be the ultimate justice or to become a punishing institution. The power to punish is vested only in the judiciary.”