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Synopsis

The Uttar Pradesh government has informed the Supreme Court that apart from a 5-member judicial inquiry commission constituted by the State, a special 3-member SIT has been constituted by Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj, to investigate the murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf.

A 3 — member supervision team under the Chairmanship of the ADG Prayagraj zone, has also been constituted by the Director General of Police, UP, which has conducted a number of meetings with the SIT and issued detailed directions to ensure that a scientific, impartial and thorough investigation of the incident is conducted, Top Court has been informed.

"State is also inquiring into security lapses that may have led to the 3 attackers getting through the police cordon and firing at Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf...", the affidavit filed through Rakesh Kumar Malpani, Special Secretary, Home Department, Government of UP, adds.

The Supreme Court has been further told that "State is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring a thorough, impartial and timely investigation into the deaths of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim @ Ashraf on 15.04.2023.."

Referring to Justice BS Chauhan Commission, which was constituted in 2020 following the Bikru incident and deaths of Vikas Dubey and his associates, the Top Court is informed that state has taken account of the recommendations made by the inquiry commission and is taking steps to ensure its continuous implementation.

Furthermore, top court has been apprised that the Commissioner of Police, Commissionerate Prayagraj and District Magistrate, Prayagraj, vide joint letter dated April 16, 2023 to the District Judge, Prayagraj, also sought the appointment of the Judicial Magistrate for a judicial inquiry into the Incident, which was granted on April 26, 2023 and said Magisterial Inquiry is under progress as well.

The instant affidavit has been filed in response to a plea by Advocate Vishal Tiwari who had moved the Apex Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking an investigation by a judicial committee led by a retired judge of the apex court into the murder of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed while they were in police custody.

When the matter was taken up today, Supreme Court bench of Justices Ravindra Bhat and Arvind Kumar said that the matter will be taken up after two weeks. 

Notably, the plea filed by Atiq's sister Aisha Noori, seeking comprehensive inquiry by a Commission headed by a retired judge of the top court into "custodial and extra judicial" killings of her family members and associates was also mentioned before the bench.

"We will keep it after two weeks", the bench said while allowing Tiwari to file a rejoinder.

Through his plea, Tiwari has requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to undertake responsibility for the investigation into the Vikash Dubey fake encounter case in 2020. His plea also sought an investigation into the 183 encounters that have occurred in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.

He has highlighted how these encounters destroy the democracy in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It was stated that such actions by police are nothing but a threat to democracy and rule of law, which gives rise to anarchy in the state.

The petition added that extrajudicial killings or fake police encounters have been severely punished by the law. In a democratic society, the police cannot become a means of providing final justice or punishing authority. Only the Judiciary has the authority to impose punishment.

“In a democratic society, the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing Authority. The power of punishment is only vested in the hands of the Judiciary. The police when become DARE DEVILS then the entire Rule of law collapses and generates fear in the mind of people against the police which is very dangerous for democracy and this also results in further crime.”

On Saturday night, the Ahmad brothers were shot dead in a shocking incident around 10 p.m. as they were being taken to a hospital in Prayagraj for a medical examination in the presence of police and the media.

The three suspects arrived at the scene acting as journalists and shot the Ahmed siblings at point-blank range in full view of media personnel and live television cameras. The incident occurred just two days after Asad, Atique's son, was killed.

According to the plea, while the private assailants were arrested immediately by the UP Police, there was no protection or retaliation from the police during the commission of the offence, which raised questions about the transparency of police operations. This also proves that the incident was pre-planned.

Case Title: Vishal Tiwari vs. Union Of India and Ors.