SC AGREES TO HEAR PLEA CHALLENGING ALLEGED FAKE ENCOUNTERS IN GUJARAT

The Supreme Court said that the two separate petitions seeking investigation into the alleged fake encounters in Gujarat from 2002 to 2006 will come up for hearing after next week.

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These petitions were originally filed in 2007, one by senior journalist BG Verghese and the other by noted lyricist Javed Akhtar and Shabnam Hashmi. It’s worth noting that BG Verghese passed away in 2014.

The matter was brought before a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench that a letter requesting an adjournment of the hearing had been circulated by one of the parties. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who is representing certain private respondents in the case, was unavailable due to health reasons.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing one of the petitioners, pointed out that this matter had been pending for an extended period. He also mentioned that the report from the Justice HS Bedi committee, which had investigated multiple cases of alleged fake encounters in Gujarat from 2002 to 2006, had been submitted quite some time ago.

"The pleas will maintain their position on the board as one of the concerned parties is unwell," remarked the bench.