Hyderabad: As the Supreme Court has appointed a three-member inquiry commission to look into the custodial murders of the four accused in the Disha case and has stayed the all the proceedings before the Telangana High Court and NHRC until further orders, the Telangana High Court on Thursday did not go further in the PILs filed before it, urging to direct the state to follow the guidelines framed in ‘encounter deaths’ by the apex court. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy observed that the PILs before it will be remain pending in ‘sine die,’ in a ‘doctrine of eclipse’ condition, till further orders from the Supreme Court and hoped that it will get clarity after the availability of the order copy of Supreme Court.
A total of five PILs, including two PILs taken up, are pending before the High Court on the custodial murders, in which most of them urged the court to register cases under 302 IPC against the police, who conducted the ‘encounter.’
Some of the petitioners have questioned the inquiry by the state-constituted SIT and requested the court to order a CBI probe or have another independent investigation agency look into the matter.
Recalling that the Telangana High Court has taken first cognisance based on a representation by women activists on the day of the custodial killings, Chief Justice Chauhan said “Now that the proceedings have been stayed, this court would not be justified to pass any orders on this issue, Whatever orders have to be passed, it has to necessarily be passed by the Supreme Court alone.”
However, the Bench directed the state government to make a request before the Supreme Court to get clarification regarding the preservation of the four dead bodies of the accused, as the apex court has not passed any order with regard to the dead bodies, which are being preserved in the Gandhi Hospital.
CJ Chauhan directed the advocate general, B.S Prasad, to inform the court by Friday 2.30 pm, after getting clarification from the Supreme Court with regarding to the dead bodies, whether they need to be preserved or not.
The attorney general (AG) responding to the query of the Bench said that he had spoken to Mukul Rohatgi, counsel representing the state, before the Supreme Court, who had informed him that the Supreme Court has not given any clarification on the preservation of the four dead bodies The AG added that the kith and kin of the deceased four persons are ready to take the bodies.
The Bench declined his arguments and said that the court wants that the state government get clarification from the Supreme Court, not by the counsels or some other else. The court suggested an urgent mention before the Supreme Court and the seeking of a clarification on this issue, because, this court had already passed an order to preserve the four dead bodies till Friday.
However, the counsel for the petitioners argued that having preserved the bodies so far, they should be preserved for a further period, so that the commission appointed by the Supreme Court can take stock of the situation and give further orders.
D. Prakash Reddy, amicus curiae of the High Court to assist the court in this case, also opined that the state must to get clarification from the Supreme Court on the preservation of the dead bodies. The case was adjourned to Friday afternoon.
