<p> The Supreme Court today said that a CBI probe has established that the killing of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar and a journalist, by Andhra Pradesh Police in July 2010, was not a fake encounter.<br /><br />"The investigation does not seem to bear out your (petitioners) apprehension that it was a fake encounter," a bench comprising of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said.<br /><br />The bench, which went through the final report of the CBI in the investigation, said that the agency has given evidence to support its probe.<br /><br />"They (the CBI) have done a painstaking and thorough investigation," the bench said. "We have carefully gone through the sequence of events," it further said.<br />It said that prima facie it does not appear to be a fake encounter. "I went through the report very carefully," Justice Alam said.<br /><br />The bench agreed to the plea of advocate Prashant Bhushan that he be allowed to go through the final report of the CBI which held the incident as a genuine encounter.<br /><br />The bench allowed the petitioner to seek the report from the apex court registry, with the instruction that he will maintain the confidentiality of the report.<br /><br />"We are confident you will respect the confidentiality of the report," the bench said and added, "We trust you, therefore, we are allowing you to have the report."<br />The court fixed the matter for further hearing on April 13, so that the petitioners can apprise the court about anything they would like to say on the report.<br /><br />The court was hearing a petition filed by Bineeta Pandey, wife of the slain journalist Hemchandra Pandey, and social activist Swami Agnivesh, who had sought an independent CBI probe into the killing.</p>
<p> The Supreme Court today said that a CBI probe has established that the killing of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar and a journalist, by Andhra Pradesh Police in July 2010, was not a fake encounter.<br /><br />"The investigation does not seem to bear out your (petitioners) apprehension that it was a fake encounter," a bench comprising of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said.<br /><br />The bench, which went through the final report of the CBI in the investigation, said that the agency has given evidence to support its probe.<br /><br />"They (the CBI) have done a painstaking and thorough investigation," the bench said. "We have carefully gone through the sequence of events," it further said.<br />It said that prima facie it does not appear to be a fake encounter. "I went through the report very carefully," Justice Alam said.<br /><br />The bench agreed to the plea of advocate Prashant Bhushan that he be allowed to go through the final report of the CBI which held the incident as a genuine encounter.<br /><br />The bench allowed the petitioner to seek the report from the apex court registry, with the instruction that he will maintain the confidentiality of the report.<br /><br />"We are confident you will respect the confidentiality of the report," the bench said and added, "We trust you, therefore, we are allowing you to have the report."<br />The court fixed the matter for further hearing on April 13, so that the petitioners can apprise the court about anything they would like to say on the report.<br /><br />The court was hearing a petition filed by Bineeta Pandey, wife of the slain journalist Hemchandra Pandey, and social activist Swami Agnivesh, who had sought an independent CBI probe into the killing.</p>