Hyderabad encounter: Supreme Court restrains media from reporting Judicial commission proceedings

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (December 12) issued notices on a petition to restrain media from publishing proceedings of the three-member judicial inquiry commission, which has been formed to probe the Telangana encounter case in which four rape and murder accused of Hyderabad veterinary doctor were killed. 

The Apex Court, which issued notices to Press Council of India and a news agency PTI in this regard, ordered the formation of a judicial inquiry commission to probe the encounter and submit its report in six months. 

The inquiry commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge VS Sirpurkar, former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Baldota, and former CBI director DR Karthikeyan, to hold an inquiry into the `encounter` killing of the four accused.

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices SA Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna said, "We are of the considered view that an inquiry commission needs to be constituted. The inquiry should be completed in six months."

"The commission will complete the inquiry in six months...and the chairman of the commission shall fix the first date hearing at Hyderabad," the bench said. 

The bench gave this directive while hearing two petitions seeking registration of FIR against cops and an independent probe into the matter. 

When advocate ML Sharma asked the court for Rs 15 lakh compensation to the family of the accused, the CJI said, "We may order an inquiry into encounters but we aren't oblivious of what the four accused might have done, the crime that might have been committed against the lady doctor." 

The rape and murder accused of Hyderabad veterinary doctor were killed in a police encounter, a week after the incident took place. The veterinary doctor was raped and charred to death, and her body was later dumped under a bridge on the outskirts of Hyderabad. 

On December 6, the four accused were taken to the crime spot for re-construction of events as part of the police investigation. During the process, they tried to escape from the spot and attacked the cops, besides snatching their weapons, the police said, adding that they had to open fire on the accused in self-defence.