Hathras gangrape: Allahabad HC takes suo moto cognisance, summons top UP govt officials, media houses

A Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday took suo moto cognisance of the gang-rape and murder of a Dalit teen allegedly by four men in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh and her forcible cremation by the police, and summoned top government officials. A bench of justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh issued summons to the Uttar Pradesh additional chief secretary, director general of police and additional director general of police, telling them to be present before the court on 12 October to explain the case, PTI reported. The bench further directed the Hathras district magistrate and senior superintendent of police to appear before it. The bench told all officials to come prepared with all the relevant material and documents to apprise the court of their versions of the case. According to Live Law, the court has also directed The Indian Express, Times of India, AajTak, NDTV, among others, to produce the material and content on the basis of which they have reported the cremation of the victim.

#Hathras : The Allahabad HC has requested @timesofindia @IndianExpress @htTweets @AmarUjalaNews @indiatvnews @aajtak @ndtv @TimesNow to produce the material and content on the basis of which they have reported the cremation of the deceased girl.#HathrasHorror pic.twitter.com/bm7bqwUIAt

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) October 1, 2020

“The matter is of immense public importance and public interest as it involves allegation of high-handedness by the state authorities resulting in violation of the basic human and fundamental rights not only of the deceased victim but also of her family members,” Live Law  quoted the high court as saying in a tweet. The court, which appeared especially upset over the police cremating the teen’s body overnight allegedly forcibly in Hathras without her parent’s consent, also asked officials to apprise the bench of the latest status of the probe. Referring to reports of forcible cremation, the court, according to another Live Law tweet, said that “what is alleged to have happened after her death, thereafter, if true, amounts to perpetuating the misery of the family and rubbing salt in their wounds”.

"we direct the Senior Registrar of this Court at
Lucknow to register a suo moto Public Interest Litigation with the title "In Re : Right to decent and dignified last rites/cremation” and place it before the appropriate Bench having jurisdiction to hear PILs" - HC.#Hathras

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) October 1, 2020

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The bench also asked the late teen’s parent to come to the court to apprise it of their version of the case and ordered the Hathras district administration to arrange for their travel to the court. The teen was gang-raped on 14 September following which she was admitted to the JN Medical College Hospital in Aligarh with serious injuries. She was referred to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. She died at the Delhi hospital on Tuesday, prompting outrage, protests and calls for justice.