Encounter Raj is a danger to democracy - PUCL Uttar Pradesh
Tags: Encounter, murder, Uttar Pradesh, Police brutality, Police violence
Related Issue: Right to Life, Right to Legal Representation, Judicial Accountability, Police Violence
Increasing encounters in the state leading to the death of individuals has again posed an imminent danger to our democratic system as it demeans the rule of law and presents police raj as the new normal. PUCL Uttar Pradesh expresses its deep concerns regarding such incidences and demands that the orders given by the Supreme Court in the PIL filed by PUCL regarding these issues need to be implemented effectively and an enquiry needs to be initiated against such cases so that they can be stopped immediately.
It is of great concern that while encounters are increasing in Uttar Pradesh, the state government through its statement seems to be appreciating it leading to the emboldening of the police in that direction. In September itself two incidences were reported where Mangesh Yadav of Sultanpur and Anuj Pratap Singh from Unnao were killed in an encounter and subsequently a press release was published by the media cell of the state government where they proudly said that since the last 7 years of this government about 49 accused have been killed by the STF. Without a trial and proving them to be a criminal and then killing them by surpassing the lawful process should be a matter of shame rather than pride. If any government presents such incidences as its achievement then this poses as a great concern for democracy.
Currently a case is pending in the Supreme Court regarding encounters during this specific government’s term which amounts to more than 1000 to which the state was asked to reply and despite that these incidence have not stop but instead have kept on increasing which is a matter of concern because it seems to be a clear declaration to finish the rule of law.
In the recent encounter of Anuj Pratap Singh, his father has raised several questions around it and said that it has been done keeping the political interest in mind. We believe that the concerned Court should take suo-moto cognizance of the recent encounters and give out guidelines so that they can be stopped immediately.
In light of the recent two encounters PUCL condemns the increasing encounter raj of Uttar Pradesh and demands the following:
- According to the formerly given orders of the Supreme Court a FIR should be filed against all the police personnels involved in the encounter of Mangesh Yadav and Anuj Pratap Singh and an impartial investigation should be initiated.
- The Uttar Pradesh government should express regret then pride regarding the increasing cases of encounters.
- As per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in the PIL filed by PUCL, any kind of award or promotion issued to police personal in respect to the encounters they have done should be stopped immediately.
- All encounters and half encounters in the state should be stopped immediately.
President, Seema Azad
General secretary, Kamal Singh
PUCL Uttar Pradesh