New Delhi: The Supreme Court has drawn up the terms of reference for the judicial inquiry into the alleged encounter killing of four accused in the rape and murder of a Hyderabad veterinary doctor.
Four men, Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen, were killed on December 6, when police claimed that they had tried to escape by attempting to snatch firearms. They had been taken to the crime scene for ‘reconstruction and retrieval’ of material evidence.
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After hearing two public interest litigations into the killings, a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde had announced on December 12 that there should be an “impartial inquiry” into the encounter deaths.
The probe team includes former Bombay high court Justice Rekha Baldota and former CBI director D.R. Karthikeyan, with retired Supreme Court Justice V.S. Sirpurkar in the lead.
As per the terms of the reference in the January 10 order uploaded by Livelaw, the investigators will “inquire into the circumstances that led to the death of afore-mentioned four persons and to ascertain as to whether any offence appears to have been committed in the course”.
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If the investigation reveals that offence was committed, then responsibility of “erring officials” will also have to be fixed.
The court had directed that the probe be concluded within six months.
The terms of reference had fixed an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per sitting for the chair and Rs 1 lakh per sitting for the members of the commission.
In its December 12 order, the Supreme Court had also stated that no no other court or authority will conduct an enquiry into the encounter killings till the commission’s work was completed. This effectively stayed proceedings in the Telangana high court, which took cognizance of the killing, and a suo motu enquiry initiated by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).