SIMI encounter: HC asks petitioner to approach judicial panel

The Madhya Pradesh High Court today disposed of a PIL demanding probe by a sitting high court judge into the alleged encounter deaths of eight SIMI activists on the outskirts of Bhopal, asking the petitioner to approach the judicial commission instead.
A division bench here headed by acting Chief Justice Rajendra Menon also refused to monitor the probe, as demanded by journalist Awdhesh Bhargava who questioned the genuineness of the police encounter.
During the hearing, Additional Advocate General Purshendra Kourav informed that the government had constituted a judicial commission comprising retired high court judge S K Pandey to conduct inquiry into the encounter.

The commission had been asked to complete the inquiry in three months and there was no need for the high court to monitor the probe separately, he said.
The court accepted the argument and disposed of the petition, asking Bhargava to approach the commission with his submission.
Eight undertrial activists of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India were killed in the alleged encounter with police on October 31 after they escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail.