Encounters not justice: HC slams UP Police

The Allahabad High Court has slammed Uttar Pradesh Police the growing practice of shooting accused in their legs and claiming it as encounters. The State DGP and the Home Secretary have been asked to inform the HC whether any oral or written directions have been issued to police officers to shoot accused persons in the legs or otherwise by claiming it to be a police encounter.

The HC observed that the practice of police encounters, particularly firing at the legs of accused persons, has seemingly become a routine feature. This is ostensibly done to please superior officers or to teach the accused a so-called lesson by way of punishment, the bench remarked.

“Such conduct is wholly impermissible, as the power to punish lies exclusively within the domain of the courts and not with the police,” the HC noted. “India being a democratic State governed by the rule of law, the functions of the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary are distinct and well defined, and any encroachment by the police into the judicial domain cannot be countenanced,” the Court added.

“This Court is frequently confronted with cases where, even in matters involving petty offences such as theft, the police indiscriminately resort to firing by projecting the incident as a police encounter,” the judge said. The observations were made by the Court while dealing with bail petitions of three accused, who had sustained injuries in different police encounters. No police officer has sustained any injury which further calls into question the necessity and proportionality of the use of firearms in the alleged encounters, the Court noted.