Ex-SC judge to be part of panel investigating Vikas Dubey encounter, UP govt tells apex court

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that former apex court judge Justice (Retd) BS Chauhan has given his consent to be a part of the committee set up for inquiry into the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey’s ealier this month. The state government told a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde that the inquiry committee would also probe the circumstances under which Dubey, who was facing 65 FIRs, was released on bail. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, read out the terms of reference of the inquiry committee. The apex court was hearing a batch of petitions which have sought court-monitored probe into the encounters of Dubey and five of his alleged associates. Some of the pleas have also sought probe into the killing of eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, who were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on 3 July. Dubey was killed in an encounter in the morning of 10 July when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area, the police had said.