NHRC finds encounter "doubtful", recommends compensation

National Human Rights Commission today severely indicted the Union Home Ministry, Delhi Government and the Delhi Police by finding a 2006 encounter "doubtful" and recommending a total compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the victims.
In a statement released today, the Commission also accused Delhi Police of "self-serving evasiveness" and "non-cooperation" on part of the Delhi Government.
The encounter had taken place on May 5, 2006 when a team of the Special Cell of Delhi Police shot down five men, namely Ayub, Babu, Sanjay, Aslam and Manoj. The Special Cell had then claimed that all were gangsters and were on their way to commit crime in the national capital.

The Commission had registered a case in this regard in 2006-2007 on the basis of an intimation received from the father of one of the victims.
"On the basis of the material on record, the Commission has found the encounter doubtful and has recommended Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of five persons killed in the encounter," the NHRC statement said.
The Commission has set aside the contention of the Union Home Ministry that "the Delhi Police have amply proved that the encounter was genuine and therefore no justification for the relief". It has held this response to its show cause notice as an extra-ordinary assertion made without any mooring in facts.

NHRC said that it was unable to understand how the Ministry of Home Affairs claimed "the Delhi Police has managed to prove that the encounter was genuine".

"The Commission has also deplored the "intransigence of the authorities concerned for refusing to accept its recommendation to hold a CBI enquiry in this case" which, it felt was essential," the statement said.
It has further observed that in 2003, it had issued guidelines to all States to hold magisterial enquiries in the aftermath of any encounter wherein there was a loss of life. All State Governments have accepted these guidelines and act on them.

"The egregious exception is in the National Capital Territory, where the Delhi Police, which appears to be deeply apprehensive of any impartial scrutiny of its actions, opposes magisterial enquiries and has an extra-ordinary veto on these decisions.
"There was total non-cooperation from the Government of Delhi. The police did not forward all the relevant documents to the Commission such as seizure memo of the articles recovered from the scene of occurrence and map of the scene of occurrence," the statement said.