‘Fake Encounters’: Supreme Court Reserves Verdict After Assam Assures Adherence To 2014 Guidelines

The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday by the Assam government that the 2014 guidelines for investigating police encounters had been strictly adhered to in the state, asserting that unwarranted scrutiny of security forces could have a demoralizing effect.

Following this submission, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh reserved its verdict on a plea seeking an independent investigation into 171 alleged extrajudicial police encounters in Assam between May 2021 & August 2022.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Assam government, emphasized that the Supreme Court’s guidelines from the 2014 case of PUCL v. Maharashtra were being “followed to the hilt.” He stated, “All necessary protocols have been followed and safeguards taken. If security personnel are guilty, they must be punished, but if they are not, they should be protected by the state. Unwarranted targeting may demoralize security forces, especially given the challenging conditions in which they operate.” Citing security threats and casualties among personnel, Mehta also questioned the credibility of the petitioner, Arif Md Yeasin Jwadder.

“We do not know who this petitioner is or on whose behalf he is seeking investigative details. He assumes that all encounters are fake while sitting in Delhi, yet no FIR has been lodged in these cases,” Mehta argued.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, countered that an honest officer should not fear an independent investigation. He contended that statements from individuals injured in police encounters, as well as testimonies from victims’ families, suggested these encounters were staged.

“The petitioner is simply requesting an independent investigation by a committee led by a retired judge. It is crucial to ascertain what is happening in Assam, and FIRs must be registered against culpable officers,” Bhushan asserted.

On February 4, the Supreme Court clarified that it would not assess the merits of the alleged 171 encounters but would only determine whether its guidelines on extrajudicial killings had been followed. Bhushan pointed to letters from victims’ families and injured individuals as evidence of gross violations of the 2014 guidelines.

He further noted that most FIRs filed in these cases were against the victims themselves, contrary to the guidelines, which mandate that cases be registered against culpable policemen.

The petitioner is challenging a January 2023 order of the Gauhati High Court, which dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the Assam Police encounters. The high court, in its order, referred to an affidavit from the Assam government stating that 171 such incidents occurred between May 2021 and August 2022, resulting in 56 fatalities—including four custodial deaths—and 145 injuries.

On October 22, 2023, the Supreme Court termed the matter “very serious” and sought details regarding investigations conducted in these cases. In July 2023, it requested responses from the Assam government and other concerned parties regarding the plea challenging the high court’s ruling.

The petitioner had initially argued before the high court that over 80 “fake encounters” had been conducted by Assam Police from May 2021 until the filing of the writ petition, leading to 28 deaths.

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