New Delhi, May 20 : The Supreme Court-appointed committee in its report submitted to the top court said that the Hyderabad encounter was a fake encounter, and the accused were deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause the death of four murder accused and with the knowledge that the firing would invariably result in the death of the deceased suspect. The Supreme Court appointed committee, in its report, recommended that 10 police officers be tried for the alleged murder in killing of four rape and murder accused. All the 10 police officers: V. Surender, K. Narasimha Reddy, Shaik Lal Madhar, Mohammed Sirajuddin, Kocherla Ravi, K Venkateshwarulu, S. Arvind Goud, D Janakiram, R. Balu Rathod and D. Srikanth, are to be tried for the offences of murder, destruction of evidence, common intention to commit crime under the IPC (Indian Penal Code). “The police version that accused snatched pistol and tried to escape unbelievable, not backed by evidence,” the appointed Committee said in its report. “In our considered opinion, the accused were deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death and with the knowledge that the firing would invariably result in the death of the deceased suspect,” the Commission said. The Commission is also of the opinion that Shaik Lal Madhar, Mohammed Sirajuddin and Kocherla Ravi are liable to be tried for the offence of murder under Section 302 of the IPC. Significantly, the inquiry commission also found that three among the killed persons – Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu- were minors at that time of the offence. These officers cannot take shelter under Section 76 of the IPC and Exception 3 to Section 300 of the IPC because their contention that they fired in good faith at the deceased suspects has been disbelieved. “Good faith, which is an essential pre-requisite of Section 76 IPC and Exception 3 to Section 300 IPC, is found to be clearly absent,” the Commission said. The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana and also comprising Justices Hima Kohli rejected the request by the senior lawyer Shyam Divan, State government of Telangana, to keep the Senior Counsel Shyam Divan, appearing for Telangana, requested the Top Court to keep the report in sealed cover but the CJI disagreed. “There is nothing confidential. Someone has been found guilty and now State has to look into this,” the CJI said.”Please keep the report re-sealed. If it is unsealed it will have impact on administration of justice,” Divan urged.”What is the point of enquiry if the report is not given (to other side),” the CJI asked.”It has happened earlier. Justice AK Patnaik (Retired) had in a case worked on a report and submitted in sealed cover,” Divan said.”Once report is there it has to be disclosed,” the CJI maintained. report in a sealed cover and ordered that copies of the report be furnished to all parties to the case. The Supreme Court also directed that all records be sent to the Telangana High Court which will take a call on further course of action based on the report and submissions by parties. The material on the record produced before the Commission showed that there were ten police officials present at the scene of incident on December 6, 2019. They were also involved in the firing which resulted in the death of the four persons while in custody. In view of the stipulation in the terms of reference, the conduct of these ten police officials has to be necessarily scrutinised by the Inquiry Commission. The bench headed by the former CJI S A Bobde, had formed an Inquiry Commission headed by former judge of the Supreme Court V. S. Sirpurkar to look into the circumstances in which the four rape and murder accused persons, Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jolu Shiva and Jollu Naveen, were allegedly killed in Hyderabad. The panel is headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice VS Sirpurkar. The other members are former Judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice Rekha Baldota and former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, DR Karthikeyan. A report had been submitted on January 28, 2022, by the Inquiry Commission to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover. In November 2019 a veterinarian was allegedly kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered in Hyderabad. This incident led to nationwide protests. 4 men namely Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jolu Shiva and Jollu Naveen were arrested in relation to the case. In December 06, 2019, the 4 accused were shot dead near the place where the dead body of the girl was found. The police claimed that the accused attempted to flee by snatching a firearm which they used to fire at the police personnel in response to which the police opened fire. The former CJI Bobde, formed the enquiry committee after hearing a petition filed by two advocates – GS Mani and Pradeep Kumar Yadav – seeking an independent investigation into the alleged fake encounter killing of four men accused of raping and murdering a 26-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad last November. (UNI)