The Supreme Court of India has voiced serious concerns regarding the Assam State Police’s involvement in encounter killings, questioning if a specific community is being targeted. This issue came to light during the proceedings of a plea filed by advocate Arif Yeasin Jwadder, which scrutinizes the recent rise in police encounters within the state.
Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, presiding over the hearing, interrogated the State’s counsel regarding the sluggish pace of investigations into these encounters, some of which are alleged to be fabricated. Justice Bhuyan, hailing from Assam, pointed out the necessity of expediting magisterial inquiries, which he insisted should take no longer than 10 to 15 days, despite the incidents dating back to 2021 and 2022.
The court remarked on Assam’s “very troubled past” with encounters, indicating that the state cannot deny these incidents’ occurrence. The plea before the Supreme Court demands the registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) for the murder of individuals allegedly killed in these police encounters, citing over 80 such incidents reported since May 2021 and raising concerns about the absence of independent investigations.
In response, the Assam government argued that only a small percentage of criminals attempting to flee were injured by police in what was claimed to be self-defense. However, this explanation did not suffice to alleviate the Bench’s concerns, particularly given the delayed progress of ongoing investigations into these so-called fake encounters.
The plea was escalated to the Supreme Court following the Gauhati High Court’s dismissal, which criticized the reliance on media reports and deemed the assertions vague. The Supreme Court’s hearing also brought to light the perceived inefficacies of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Assam Human Rights Commission in addressing the gravity of the situation, with the latter being reprimanded for closing a complaint after the complainant ceased to pursue the case.
Justice Kant expressed a clear disapproval of this practice, insisting that such cases should be pursued further by the state-level human rights bodies instead of being prematurely closed.
The case has been adjourned to November 26, 2024, with the State of Assam directed to submit detailed reports on 171 encounter cases and the status of their investigations. The forthcoming examination of this data by the Supreme Court aims to identify any patterns of targeting specific communities through police encounters.
