Disha encounter case: Try all cops for murder, Telangana HC told

HYDERABAD: Stating that the special investigation team (SIT) probe into the December 2019 'encounter' killings of four suspects in the Disha rape and murder case has raised several doubts on impartiality of the probe, senior counsel D Prakash Reddy on Monday said that a murder case should be booked against all the 10 cops who took part in the encounter.
Prakash Reddy, who is the amicus curiae in the case, said the probe should be entrusted to an independent agency while putting forth his argument before a bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji. The bench took up the case following the Supreme Court asking it to decide the next course of action after hearing the relevant parties.
'Accused encounter cops in Disha case may come out unscathed, fair trial must'
Prakash Reddy contended that there should be a fair trial against the 10 cops.
"They may get a clean chit and may come out unscathed. But it should happen through a process of law and courts. Police personnel who take part in encounters cannot escape from this process because the Supreme Court in PUCL and other cases clearly said that an FIR against the cops is a must. The current practice of police booking cases against the deceased cannot be allowed," he said.
Telangana State Police Officers' Association and Disha's father wanted to be impleaded in the case. The bench, while discouraging the father of Disha from reliving the trauma again, however, indicated to the police officers' association that it may hear them without impleading them in the next hearing.
Indian Association of People's Lawyers too filed an implead plea and said that it was supporting the argument of amicus curiae and urged the court to order slapping of IPC 302 charges against the accused cops. The state counsel sought time to present the version of the government. The bench posted the case to March 29.
Disha, a 26-year-old veterinary doctor in the state-run hospital at Kollur, was found dead on the morning of November 28, 2019, under Chatanpally bridge in Shadnagar. She was raped and murdered, sparking widespread outrage.
Police arrested four persons who were suspected to have raped and killed Disha. On the morning of December 6, 2019, they were shot dead by armed policemen when they were taken out for reconstructing the crime scene and for recovering the articles of Disha. Police claimed that they were forced to kill the suspects in self-defence after they started attacking cops at the crime spot.
Later, the SC constituted the three-member Justice VS Sirpurkar Commission of Inquiry, which trashed the theory of the encounter of the four suspects and recommended that an FIR be lodged against the 10 cops involved. The apex court, however, left the issue to the Telangana HC and asked the latter to take a call after perusing commission of inquiry report and after hearing all the relevant parties.