Allahabad High Court seeks response from UP DGP over ‘routine’ police encounters
New Delhi, Jan 30: The Allahabad High Court has taken a stern view of the growing practice of Uttar Pradesh police allegedly shooting accused persons in the legs and later terming such incidents as encounters, legal news portal Bar & Bench reported. According to the report, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, in an order dated January 28 in Raju alias Rajkumar v State of UP, directed the Director General of Police (DGP) and the State’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to appear before the Court via video conference on January 30. The Court has asked them to clarify whether any oral or written directions have been issued to police personnel to shoot accused persons in the legs under the guise of encounters. The Court observed that police encounters, particularly those involving firing at the legs of accused persons, appear to have become a routine practice, allegedly to please senior officers or to punish the accused. “Such conduct is wholly impermissible, as the power to punish lies exclusively within the domain of the Courts and not with the police,” the bench said, stressing that any encroachment into the judiciary’s role cannot be allowed in a democratic system governed by the rule of law.
As reported by Bar & Bench, the Court further noted that some officers may be misusing their authority to gain the attention of superiors or to generate public sympathy by portraying incidents as encounters.
The judge remarked that the Court frequently encounters cases where police resort to firing even in minor offences, projecting them as encounters. The observations came while hearing bail pleas of three accused persons who sustained injuries in separate police encounters. The Court noted that no police personnel were injured in these incidents, raising concerns over the necessity and proportionality of the use of firearms. In one case, the State informed the Court that while an FIR had been registered, the injured person’s statement was not recorded before a magistrate or medical officer. The Court said this indicated non-compliance with Supreme Court guidelines on police encounters, including those laid down in People’s Union for Civil Liberties v State of Maharashtra and subsequent rulings. The bench has now asked the DGP and the Home Secretary to clarify whether directions have been issued to ensure compliance with Supreme Court guidelines, particularly regarding FIR registration, recording of statements of injured persons and investigations by officers senior in rank to those involved in encounter operations, Bar & Bench reported.
