'Deliberately fired upon', SC commission on encounter of gang-rape, murder accused in Hyderabad

A Supreme Court-appointed Commission has found that four gang-rape and murder accused, including three minors, who were killed in a police encounter in Hyderabad in 2019, were deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death.

The Commission headed by former SC judge Justice V S Sirpurkar recommended that all 10 police officers, involved in the encounter, should be tried for murder, and destruction of evidence.

"In our considered opinion, the accused were deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death and with the knowledge that the firing would invariably result in the death of the deceased suspect," it said.

The Commission, in its inquiry into the encounter killings of December 6, 2019, found that the suspects died due to the injuries caused by the bullets fired by the police party, and the police party did not fire in self-defence or in a bid to re-arrest the deceased suspects.

The Commission rejected the claim of the police personnel that the accused snatched the weapons, and attempted to escape from the custody, while assaulting and firing at the police party, during the collection of evidence. It also noted there were violations of previous SC judgements, NHRC guidelines and the Code of Criminal Procedure in the arrest and remand of the accused.

"Just as mob lynching is unacceptable, so is any idea of instant justice. At any point in time, the Rule of Law must prevail. Punishment for crime has to be only by the procedure established by law," the Commission said in the 387-page report.

On Friday, acting on a PIL by advocate G S Mani and others, a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Raman rejected a plea by Telangana government counsel to keep the report of the commission in a sealed cover. The top court sent the matter to the High Court for further consideration.

"This relates to the encounter case. There is nothing to keep here. The Commission has found someone guilty," the bench said.

In its report, the Commission found that Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, three of the four accused were minors.

Pointing towards lapses in the investigation of the case, the Commission said all 10 policemen should be tried for murder, saying "The different acts committed by each of them were done in furtherance of common intention to kill the deceased suspects."

Accused Mohammed Arif and three others were arrested in connection with the gang rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinary female doctor in November 2019. They were shot dead near the same highway - where the charred body of the woman was found, as the case has stirred huge public outrage.

The top court in December 2019 set up the Commission to inquire into the circumstances leading to the encounter and asked to submit the report in six months.

In August last year, the court granted an extension to the Commission, to file the final report.

The other members of the Commission included former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and former CBI director D R Kaarthikeyan.