Gujarat encounters report no more secret as Supreme Court rejects state plea

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that petitioners, including poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar, be given access to the confidential report that examined the genuineness of police encounters in Gujarat between 2002 and 2006. The findings took the form an exhaustive 221-page report prepared by a former Supreme Court judge. Journalist late BG Verghese and poet Javed Akhtar had filed separate PILs in the court.

By allowing them access, the bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices LN Rao and SK Kaul brushed aside Gujarat government's objection that the sensitive document should not be shared as they are not affected parties. The Court also gave a copy of the report to the state inviting responses from both petitioners and state within four weeks. The bench clarified that only after hearing both sides will it decide on accepting the report.

The move effectively makes the sensitive and guarded report public. The state government requested the Court to ensure that the petitioners keep the contents of the report confidential. However, the bench refused to pass any order to this effect.

It was critical about the state's objection to disclosure of the report. In an earlier hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat, raised doubts about the validity of the report.

He said it was prepared by Justice HS Bedi, who is the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee examining all encounters, and cannot be accepted as the report by the Committee. The judges then sought a clarification from Justice Bedi.

In an 8-page reply, he submitted that the Court's earlier orders required the Chairman to submit the report and prior to its filing, he had taken the consent of the entire Monitoring Committee. Satisfied, the CJI-headed bench decided to share the report.

What Has Changed Now

• Adv Prashant Bhushan, for petitioners, raised concerns over genuineness of these encounters in light of highlighted cases of Sohrabuddin, Tulsiram Prajapati & Ishrat Jehan 
• The Bench told Gujarat govt it won’t be proper to deny Verghese and Akhtar’s petitions access to files anymore