New Delhi: Police officials involved in encounter killings shall not be rewarded till their gallantry is established beyond doubt, the Supreme Court held on Tuesday while framing a slew of guidelines including mandatory magisterial inquiry into such incidents.
Expressing concern that no guidelines are in place in the country, the apex court said certain procedure needs to followed in such cases to "bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime who take law in their own hands" and "to restore faith of the people in police force".
A bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha said that cases of death in police encounters continue to occur in spite of Constitutional provisions for safeguarding the personal liberty and life of a citizen and directed that a Magisterial inquiry must invariably be held in all cases of death in police encounter and a report thereof must be sent to Judicial Magistrate.
"No out-of-turn promotion or instant gallantry rewards shall be bestowed on the concerned officers soon after the occurrence. It must be ensured at all costs that such rewards are given/recommended only when the gallantry of the concerned officers is established beyond doubt," the bench said, adding in such cases any intelligence or tip-off regarding criminal movements shall be reduced into writing or in some electronic form.
"An independent investigation into the incident/encounter shall be conducted by the CID or police team of another police station under the supervision of a senior officer (at least a level above the head of the police party engaged in the encounter)," the bench, also including Justice RF Nariman, said adding "In a society governed by rule of law, it is imperative that extra-judicial killings are properly and independently investigated so that justice may be done".
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