SC extends time to probe encounter killings in Gujarat

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted three more months to the Special Task Force (STF) to conclude its ongoing probe into alleged fake encounter killings in Gujarat between 2002 and 2006.

The STF, working under the supervision of a monitoring panel headed by a former apex court judge, is probing the alleged fake encounters in the state.

A bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud noted the submission that two out of the 24 cases were now required to be investigated.

"Investigation in some cases are complete under the supervision of the monitoring committee whose chairman is Justice HS Bedi (retired apex court judge) and investigation in some cases are still to be completed."

"To enable STF to complete the investigation under the supervision of the monitoring committee, three months are granted," the bench said.

Justice Bedi was appointed as the Chairman of the already functioning monitoring committee set up by the state government on March 2, 2012.

The apex court had asked the monitoring authority to place before it preliminary reports relating to the alleged fake encounters between 2002 and 2006 in Gujarat, purportedly showing a pattern that people from the minority community were targeted as terrorists. These were submitted periodically.

The PILs in this regard were filed in 2007 by veteran journalist BG Verghese and poet Javed Akhtar, seeking a direction for a probe by an independent agency or the CBI so that the "truth may come out". Verghese had passed away on December 30, 2014.