After Atiq Ahmed's killing, plea in SC seeking inquiry into 183 encounters in UP since 2017

New Delhi: A petition has been filed by lawyer, Vishal Tiwari, in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to constitute an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of a former Supreme Court Judge to inquire into the brutal killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf in police custody.

The lawyer Vishal Tiwari said that he has filed the petition in the Supreme Court and added, this kind of act is unwarranted. Nobody should take law into their own hand execute people by killing an accused or a convict. Law is there to take action against accused persons.

"Such incidents are a severe threat to the democracy and rule of law, and such acts are establishments of anarchy and prima facie development of police state. It is a direct attack on Indian democracy and rule of law" Tiwari said, in his petiton.

Tiwari's plea sought a direction to constitute an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Former Supreme Court Judge to inquire into the police custody murder of Atiq and Ashraf.

Tiwari said that he will mention the matter for urgent hearing for today or tomorrow in the Supreme Court, keeping in view the urgency and importance of the case.

Besides this, Tiwari also sought a direction from the Supreme Court that the inquire Committee should also investigate into the 183 encounters, which had occurred since 2017, as stated by the Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order).

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead, while they were being taken to a hospital for check-up in Prayagraj on April 15, amid police presence.

Advocate Tiwari, in his petition, has also sought to issue direction to unearth the "fake encounters" by directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe, collect and record the evidence in Kanpur Bikru Encounter case of 2020, in which Vikas Dubey and his aides were killed by police in an encounter as the inquiry commission could not record the evidence and has filed the inquiry report in absence of that.

"The petition is against the violation of rule of law and oppressive police brutality being perpetrated by Uttar Pradesh. Although, later the assailants were arrested but during the commission of the offence, there was no protection and retaliation by the police. Such imposes a question on the transparency and proves this matter as a pre-planned attack with no redressal for the accused," advocate Tiwari said in his petition.

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

Tiwari also, in his petition filed before the Supreme Court, said that the extra judicial killing or fake police encounters have been very badly condemned under the law and such things cannot exist in a democratic society. The police or anybody can be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing Authority.

"The power of punishment is only vested in the Judiciary. The police when becomes dare devil, then the entire rule of law collapses. This kind of brutal act generates fear in the mind of people against the police which is very dangerous for the democracy," the petitioner, Vishal Tiwari, said in his petition filed in the Supreme Court. (UNI)