The Supreme Court today appointed a three-member commission to inquire into
the encounter of the four accused in the
Disha rape and murder case, and sought a report in six months.
It also asked the Telangana High Court not to hear the case any more.
After hearing the case for the second day, CJI S A Bobde appointed the commission, to be headed by former SC judge Sirpurker and also comprising retired judge of the Bombay High Court Rekha Prakash and former CBI Director Karthikeyan.
The CJI directed the commission to start the probe in Hyderabad and submit a detailed report in six months on the encounter.
The court also gave its nod to simultaneous probes by the NHRC and the commission, and also instructed the Telangana government to bear all the expenditure for the commission, the police to cooperate, and the media to show restraint on the issue.
Mukul Rohatgi, Telangana counsel, opposed the commission saying that the SIT was probing the case and argued that the police resorted to the encounter for self-protection when the accused tried to attack and escape with the policemen's guns. The court said that the people should know the facts through the commission probe. The court also pulled up the counsel asking if any policemen were injured, and where the bullets were if the accused had fired at them during the encounter.
On hearing the petitions by Mani, Pradeep Kumar and Mukhesh, the CJI also directed the Telangana High Court against hearing the encounter case any more.
The High Court later declined to proceed in the case. It also said that it could not take a decision on the handing over of the bodies to the families, and instructed the Advocate-General to take that matter to the notice of the apex court.