PIL seeking CBI probe into wanted criminal's encounter by Uttar Pradesh police in Supreme Court
Aug 09, 2020
New Delhi [India], Aug 9 : A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court in connection with the encounter of wanted criminal Rakesh Pandey in Lucknow seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the matter for fair, independent and impartial investigation.
The PIL filed by lawyer Vishal Tiwari seeks a direction that the FIR should be registered for the offences under section 302 (Murder), 201 (Destruction of Evidence), 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the police officials who conducted the encounter.
The petitioner also sought a direction, from the top court, to constitute a three-member enquiry commission to enquire and investigate the case in which the members shall be the retired judges of High courts and the commission shall be headed by the retired judges of the Supreme Court.
The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) gunned down Rakesh Pandey, an accused in the 2005 murder case of BJP leader Krishnanand Rai, in an encounter near Sarojini Nagar Police Station in Lucknow, said Inspector General of Police (STF) Amitabh Yash on Sunday.
A resident of UP's Mau district, Pandey alias Hanuman Pandey carried a bounty of Rs 1 lakh. He was a wanted criminal and accused of many heinous crimes.
Rai, who was murdered on November 29, 2005, along with six other persons, was a sitting MLA from the Mohammadabad constituency.
The investigation of the case was transferred from UP Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case from Ghazipur to Delhi after Rai's wife Alka Rai filed a plea in the court.
In October last year, Alka Rai had approached the Delhi High Court challenging the acquittal of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and others in the case.
The CBI court while acquitting all the accused observed that it was a gruesome case involving the murder of seven persons. The eyewitnesses and other material witnesses had turned hostile during the trial.
