#Bhopal Encounter – Supreme Court issues notice in plea for CBI probe

Mehmooda Mohammed Salim Mucchhale, mother of Mohammed Khalid, one of the eight killed in the Bhopal Encounter case, has moved the Supreme Court against the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s 21 February ruling declining the plea of an independent CBI or Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter..On 24 July, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to the Centre, the CBI and the Madhya Pradesh government acting on Mehamooda’s plea..The Special Leave Petition against the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s 21 February order, filed by Advocate Farrukh Rasheed, terms the “independent” enquiries carried out by the Madhya Pradesh government and its agents a “sham” and demands a probe, which is devoid of any external influence..In the High Court, the petitioner had also sought an independent probe into the killing of Head Constable Ram Shankar Yadav, who, according to the official version, was killed by the eight accused (deceased) undertrials who were alleged to have broken out of the jail in a daring attempt. However, the court rejected the plea since the state government was already probing the incident..The plea calls into question the raison d’ etre of the Madhya Pradesh government’s probe by an IPS officer empaneled with the state government and a retired High Court Judge Justice S.K. Pande, contending that they are not free of government influence. This is because personnel of the Madhya Pradesh Police were involved in the allegedly staged encounter, and because the Chief Minister, while praising the cops and rewarding them prematurely for their gallantry, had termed the eight deceased accused as “terrorists” even though they were yet to be convicted by a court of law..Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Rubabuddin Sheikh V/s. State of Gujarat & Ors (2010), the petition states that when the accusations (of a staged encounter) are directed against the local police personnel then it would desirable to entrust the investigation to an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation so that all concerned including the relatives of the deceased may feel assured that an independent agency is looking into the matter and that would lend lend credibility to the final outcome of the investigation..The petition also cites R.S. Sodhi, Advocate v. State of U.P. and Ors (1992) in which the Supreme Court directed the CBI to probe a case in which 10 were gunned down by the Punjab Police in an alleged encounter..The single-judge enquiry commission did not grant any opportunity of hearing to the family members of the deceased although they had filed affidavits and various documents in support of their case, and did even not permit their counsel to cross examine the witnesses who appeared before it, the petition alleges..Read the Petition