AP Encounter: No suo motu cognizance; SC for proper petition

The Supreme Court today refrained from taking suo motu cognizance for ordering an independent probe by CBI or a special investigation team into the alleged encounter of 20 red sanders smugglers in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district but allowed filing of a petition in this regard.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra said the matter can only be considered after a proper petition is filed.
The bench gave liberty for filing the petition to advocate R Krishnamurthy who had orally mentioned the incident asking the apex court to take suo motu cognizance of the killing of the labourers.

The advocate from Tamil Nadu said among the victims were 12 innocent labourers from his state, who were killed in a stage-managed encounter and an independent probe either by the CBI or SIT was needed to unearth the truth.
The incident came under severe attack from the government and political parties including neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Andhra Pradesh Police had claimed that six of its personnel were also injured in an attack by the smugglers allegedly armed with sickles, axes and country-made weapons.
However, the relatives of the victims said the 20 people were shot dead by the police in cold blood.