High Court : Mandatory to register FIR against cops in encounter deaths
- 5 years ago
NewsX: Should filing a criminal case in encounter deaths be made mandatory?
The Supreme Court is all set to decide on a Government plea, which seeks to quash an Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement in this regard.
The 2009 judgement makes it mandatory for a criminal case to be filed against the police every time they kill an alleged terrorist or a Maoist Guerrilla in a gunfight.
The Home Ministry in its affidavit has made a strong claim against the order. The basis being that if criminal cases were to be registered against police personnel every time a cop kills a Maoist in a gunbattle, the very existence of India as a state will become untenable.
The government in its affidavit has also drawn a parallel with that of 26/11 accused Ajmal Kasab's case. The govt has said that if the principle laid down in the judgement is accepted, then Ajmal Kasab as the only surviving terrorist would have had the statutory right to get a criminal case registered against police involved in the operations. The officials then would have to defend their cases in their personal capacities.
However, many feel that the HC order is excessive in the extreme and that no such rule exists anywhere in the world. On the other hand the Andhra Pradesh High Court order is said to be more a reaction to the widespread use of 'encounters'. so the police are getting a blowback of their own extremism.
The Supreme Court is all set to decide on a Government plea, which seeks to quash an Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement in this regard.
The 2009 judgement makes it mandatory for a criminal case to be filed against the police every time they kill an alleged terrorist or a Maoist Guerrilla in a gunfight.
The Home Ministry in its affidavit has made a strong claim against the order. The basis being that if criminal cases were to be registered against police personnel every time a cop kills a Maoist in a gunbattle, the very existence of India as a state will become untenable.
The government in its affidavit has also drawn a parallel with that of 26/11 accused Ajmal Kasab's case. The govt has said that if the principle laid down in the judgement is accepted, then Ajmal Kasab as the only surviving terrorist would have had the statutory right to get a criminal case registered against police involved in the operations. The officials then would have to defend their cases in their personal capacities.
However, many feel that the HC order is excessive in the extreme and that no such rule exists anywhere in the world. On the other hand the Andhra Pradesh High Court order is said to be more a reaction to the widespread use of 'encounters'. so the police are getting a blowback of their own extremism.