Vikas Dubey encounter hearing: SC 'appalled' that gangster got bail despite cases against him

The Uttar Pradesh government before the Supreme Court has agreed to rework a committee to investigate the death of gangster Vikas Dubey on Monday. The Supreme Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to consider adding a former apex court judge and a retired police officer in the inquiry committee which is probing the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey, reports PTI. The apex court also said it was “appalled” that the gangster got bail despite so many cases against him. “It is a failure of the entire system that a man with so many cases against him was allowed out on bail,” said Chief Justice of India SA Bobde. A three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India, on Monday heard a batch of pleas seeking CBI or NIA monitored probe into the 10 July encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey by the UP Police. During the hearing, the apex court stated that it understands the “big difference” between Vikas Dubey’s killing and the Hyderabad rape-murder encounter, reports LiveLaw. The bench hearing a batch of pleas on Monday told the Uttar Pradesh government that they have to uphold rule of law. “You as a state have to uphold the rule of law. It requires arrests, trial, and sentencing. It is your duty to do so,” the top court told the state government, reports Bar & Bench. The top court was also hearing a plea filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) which highlighted how encounters have increased in the state of Uttar Pradesh since 2018. Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh appearing for PUCL told the court,  There have been statements by ministers who favoured encounters." The court asked solicitor general Tushar Mehta appearing for the state government to look also into this aspect as well. The bench noted, “What is at stake is not one incident in Uttar Pradesh but the whole system.” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of Uttar Pradesh government, agreed to the court’s suggestion of adding new members to the inquiry committee. Mehta sought some time to take instruction and get back to the court on the issue. The bench also said it cannot spare a sitting top court judge to become a part of the inquiry committee. Appearing for the Uttar Pradesh Police, senior advocate Harish Salve said that it will produce draft notification with regard to changes as suggested in the inquiry panel by 22 July (Wednesday). Last week, the UP government in a filed affidavit to the Supreme Court had said that the police party escorting gangster Vikas Dubey from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Kanpur had to “ fire back in self-defence ” as he tried to escape and was killed. Eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, 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 on 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 the Bhauti area, the police had said. Prior to Dubey’s encounter, five of his alleged associates were killed in separate encounters. With inputs from PTI