The Supreme Court Wednesday approved the draft notification by the Uttar Pradesh government to include former apex court judge Justice (Retd) B S Chauhan and former DGP K L Gupta in the inquiry committee to probe the killing of gangster Vikas Dubey and his associates in police encounters. The top court also directed the state that the commission should start functioning within one week starting Wednesday and submit its report within two months.
The apex court had on Monday directed the state government to expand the committee to include a former judge of the court and a retired director general of police. The earlier committee had only one member, Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shashi Kant Agarwal.
Hearing a batch of plea seeking court-monitored probe into the encounters of Dubey and five of his alleged associates, a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde told the state government that the scope of the investigation to be conducted by inquiry committee should be wide enough. It said that the committee should look into incidents of killing of eight policemen and subsequent encounter of Dubey.
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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh government, told the bench that the inquiry committee would also probe the circumstances under which Dubey, who was facing 65 FIRs, was released on bail. He also read out the terms of reference of the inquiry committee.
Dubey was shot dead while trying to escape after a car accident on July 10, a day after his arrest in Madhya Pradesh. He was the prime accused in the killing of eight police personnel who were part of the team that had gone to Bikru village in Kanpur to arrest him in an attempt to murder case on July 2. The case triggered a political controversy, with opposition leaders alleging a bigger plot behind Dubey’s killing.
Besides the committee, an SIT headed by the UP Additional Chief Secretary has also been set up to look into Dubey’s crimes and the alleged collusion between him, police and politicians. In addition, a special team under SP, Crime, Kanpur Nagar is also investigating.
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