The Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed that the members of the police party, who were allegedly responsible for the killing of four persons accused of gang-raping and murdering a veterinarian in 2019, be heard as intervenors at the time of final hearing of the writ petitions filed in connection with the ‘Disha encounter’ case.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti pronounced the verdict disposing of a batch of interlocutory applications filed by members of the police party and the veterinarian’s father in different PIL petitions and a writ petition connected to ‘Disha encounter’. Telangana HC had been hearing a batch of six PIL pleas and a writ petition since the killing of the four accused in Disha case in an ‘exchange of fire’ with the Cyberabad police party while being taken to the crime scene on December 6, 2019.
The PIL pleas sought different reliefs. The common prayer was a re-investigation into ‘Disha encounter’ by a specialised investigating agency like CBI and registration of murder case against the police personnel responsible for the killing of the four youngsters who were the accused in the gang-rape and murder of the 26-year-old veterinarian. The V.S. Sirpurkar commission, constituted by by the Supreme Court to inquire into the killing of the four accused after hearing a writ petition, found fault with police personnel and recommended registration of murder case under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code in its report submitted in January 2022.
