Vikas Dubey Encounter: Supreme Court asks inquiry committee report to be uploaded on SC website; State to take action on recommendations

The Supreme Court on Friday directed that commission of inquiry report in the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey should be kept in public domain by uploading it to the top court's website [Anoop Prakash Awasthi v. State of Uttar Pradesh]..A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli also directed the State government to take appropriate action on the recommendation of the commission."We direct state govt to take appropriate action on the recommendation submitted by the commission. The report to be kept on a public domain and be uploaded on the Supreme Court website", the Court directed..This direction was made by the court after being informed that the recommendations in the report had been accepted by the government of Uttar Pradesh. .In July 2020, the apex court had given green signal for an Inquiry Commission headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice BS Chauhan to investigate the encounter..Dubey and his aides were accused of gunning down as many as eight police personnel in Kanpur. He was subsequently taken into police custody on July 9 that year after surrendering before the Madhya Pradesh Police.Dubey was killed on the morning of July 10, while being taken back to Uttar Pradesh by the State police..Hours before his killing, Mumbai-based lawyer Ghanshyam Upadhyay had filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking protection for the gangster, apprehending his killing in a "fake encounter". The encounter took place even before the plea could be listed before the Supreme Court.The petitioners sought an independent probe into the encounter killings of Dubey and his aides, who also died while in police custody.The UP government's version was that Dubey was killed in an encounter when he fired at the special task force team which was trying to apprehend him when he tried to escape after the vehicle in which he was being taken to Kanpur from Ujjain, overturned due to an accident..An application seeking similar reliefs was also filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in another pending matter which sought to question the encounters that had taken place in Uttar Pradesh from January 2017 to March 2018.An Inquiry committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice BS Chauhan subsequently gave clean chit to the UP Police regarding Dubey's killing. It had, however, recommended action against police and other government officials who used to patronise Dubey. .[Read our live-coverage of today's hearing].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.