Why Vikas Dubey Was Out on Bail is Focus, Says SC on Encounter Probe

Former Supreme Court judge BS Chauhan will head the judicial commission that will inquire into the encounter killing of Vikas Dubey.

Justice Chauhan was the last chairperson of the Law Commission, and he served in the Supreme Court as a judge between 2009 and 2014.

Seeking a report from the commission within two months, the top court emphasised that "why Dubey was out on bail or parole despite so many criminal cases against him is the single-most important factor of the entire matter”.

Apart from Justice Chauhan, retired Allahabad High Court judge Shashi Kant Agarwal and former DGP KL Gupta will be the other members of the commission.

The bench approved the draft notification, adduced in the court by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government.

The terms of reference will include inquiry into killing of eight policemen by Dubey and his gang on July 2-3, Dubey's encounter on July 10, encounter of his associates, possible nexus of Dubey with state functionaries and how the history-sheeter was out on bail.

The bench said that the commission will start functioning within a week and will submit its report before the top court and also before the state, in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Act.

It asked the central government to provide secretarial staff and other amenities to the commission. Mehta, on his part, said the commission will also be given assistance of officials from the CBI or the NIA if they so require.

About monitoring the case, the CJI clarified that the apex court will not monitor the investigations into Dubey's encounter

"Just because it has received so much publicity, we can't start monitoring criminal investigations," said the CJI, noting there is already a special investigation team set up by the state government for this purpose.

On the last date, the bench had asked for state government to include a former judge of the top court in the commission. It had also termed as "failure of the institutions" that Dubey was out in spite of 63 pending criminal cases against him.