Lucknow: After the United Nations red flagged a series of encounters in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on a petition seeking a court-monitored inquiry into police encounters against alleged criminals in the state. Hearing the plea that sought the inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation or a Special Investigation Team, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the encounters are a very serious matter and require a detailed hearing.
The next hearing for the petition filed by People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Citizens Against Hate is scheduled on February 12.
Expressing concerns over allegations that the UP Police committed at least 59 extrajudicial killings in the last 22 months starting from March 2017, four human rights experts have sent a detailed report to the central government regarding 15 such cases, mostly involving Muslim individuals living in poverty.
The UN has called these alleged ‘fake’ encounters as extrajudicial killings. Expressing concern over the patterns of events, the UN letter stressed the need for reviewing the use of force of UP Police urgently.
#India: UN experts alarmed about allegations of at least 5⃣9⃣extrajudicial killings by police in #UttarPradesh since March 2017. India’s Supreme Court is scheduled to consider several of the cases on 14 January.
Learn more: https://t.co/tXlUkSLCgm pic.twitter.com/PxFOFcoRtI
— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) January 11, 2019