The Supreme Court on Monday sought response of the Yogi Adityanath Government over the encounter deaths in Uttar Pradesh over the past one year.
A public interest litigation (PIl) filed by NGO Peoples Union for Civil liberties brought the spotlight on the rising number of encounters and alleged criminals being eliminated by the state police as part of a state-sponsored plan to enforce law and order.
Arguing the PIl, advocate Sanjay Parikh submitted to a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that as per facts available, about 1100 encounters took place in the last one year killing 49 persons and injuring 370. On a latest count, Parikh claimed that 58 persons were eliminated as part of this action plan of which several were allegedly fake encounters.
The bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the PIl to UP government. The petition stated that since the state government endorsed the encounters, there would be no probe into the killings. It demanded a fair probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in addition to monitoring by a Committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge into excesses committed by police officials.