HC completes hearing on ‘fake encounters’

The Gauhati High Court completed the hearing on the petition over alleged fake encounters in the state and reserved its judgment on Wednesday. The bench of justice Suman Shayam and justice Susmita Phukan Khaund was hearing the petition filed by a delhibased lawyer Arif Jwadder alleging fake encounters in the state and seeking an inquiry by an independent agency. The Assam government in November last year had submitted before the high court through an affidavit that 171 incidents of police action had taken place in the state from May 1 2021 to August 30 last year where 145 people were injured and 56 were killed. The state government in its affidavit stated that the cases were being investigated in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in the People’s Union Civil Liberties (PUCL) case, anothers vs State of Maharashtra, others 2014. Noncompliance with the PUCL guidelines is one of the main allegations brought by the petitioner Jwadder. Jwadder argued that independent investigation into the cases has not been done following the Supreme Court guidelines.