New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by some Manipur police personnel seeking recusal of the judges on the bench in the Manipur fake encounters case.
A bench comprising Justices Madan B. Lokur and U.U. Lalit said that there was no reason for these policemen to doubt the SIT and the probe conducted in these cases.
The bench also said that the institutional integrity of the judiciary and the CBI must be maintained, according to Indian Express. “There is no reason for Manipur cops to doubt the SIT conducting the probe in fake encounter cases. The institutional integrity of judiciary and CBI must be maintained.”
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The apex court’s order came on a plea filed by some Manipur police personnel who had sought recusal of judges on the bench, claiming they had earlier termed some accused, who were chargesheeted by the CBI’s special investigation team in the encounter cases, as “murderers”.
In July last year, the Supreme Court had said that the use of “excessive or retaliatory force” by the armed forces is not admissible even in “disturbed areas”, and ordered a probe into alleged fake encounter killings in Manipur.
(With PTI inputs)