SC Will Hear Demand For An Investigation Into The Murder Of Atiq & Ashraf On April 24

The Supreme court on Tuesday agrees to hear on April 24 a plea seeking to constitute an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of a Former Supreme Court Justice to inquire into the police custody murder of Atiq and Ashraf in Uttar Pradesh.

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead while they were taken to a hospital in Prayagraj yesterday amid police presence. Advocate Vishaal Tiwari has moved a Public Interest Litigation and sought to constitute an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of a Former Supreme Court Justice to inquire into the 183 encounters which had occurred since 2017 as stated by Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order).

He has also sought to inquire about the killing of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf who was shot dead by assailants during police presence.

Advocate Vishal Tiwari, in his public interest litigation, has also sought to issue direction to unearth the fake encounters by directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate, collect and record the evidence in the Kanpur Bikru Encounter case 2020 in which Vikas Dubey and his aides were killed by police in the encounter as the inquiry commission could not record the evidence in rebuttal of police version and has filed the inquiry report in absence of that.

The petitioner said that his PIL is against the violation of rule of law and oppressive police brutality being perpetrated by Uttar Pradesh.

The petitioner has apprised the court that he has approached the court in a matter pertaining to the Kanpur encounter of Vikas Dubey and said that a similar incident was repeated by Uttar Pradesh police which is the encounter killing of Asad who was the son of Atiq Ahmad gangster turned politician and also the killing of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf by private assailants when they were in police custody and were taken for medical examination.

The petitioner said that such incidents are a severe threat to the democracy and rule of law, and such acts are the establishment of anarchy and prima facie development of the police state.

He also mentioned that extra-judicial killings or fake police encounters have been very badly condemned under the law and such things cannot exist in a democratic society. The police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing Authority.