Dubey: Won’t drop senior ex-cop from probe panel, says SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday junked a plea by two lawyers to drop former Uttar Pradesh Police chief KL Gupta from the inquiry commission it had cleared last week with its ex-judge B S Chauhan to probe into the alleged fake encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey and elimination of his other associates by the police in retaliation of his gang killing eight police personnel early this month.

Rejecting the two petitioner lawyers' claim of Gupta's alleged bias, Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, heading a three judge bench said: “He's not taking sides in the controversy. He's also said the inquiry is going on and they (police personnel) if found guilty, will be punished.”

He told the petitioners, advocates Ghanashyam Upadhayay and Anoop Awasthi: “We cannot change this person like this because of the apprehension. You are only looking at one part of it [his statement to the media].”

The CJI said Gupta had taken a “balanced view” and has also made it clear that “if any police officials are found guilty, then they will be taken to task.” Both Upadhyay and Awasthi read alleged bias in Gupta’s interviews before the inquiry commission was set up wherein he had accepted the police version of the encounter on its face value. Finding nothing unusual in it, CJI Bobde said when a charge-sheet is filed or charges made, they too accept them and then go on to examine their veracity. Pointing out that former DGP Gupta has given a clean chit to the police, Awasthi wondered how Gupta could say that there is no controversy about the July 10 encounter of Dubey.

'UP suffering as someone with 64 cases was out on bail' Chief Justice S.A. Bobde on Tuesday came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh administration suffering the state has been suffering as someone with 64 cases was released on bail. The top made this sharp observation refusing bail to a man with 8 criminal cases. The Chief Justice, citing the Vikas Dubey case, told the petitioner's counsel: "Your client is a dangerous man. We cannot release him on bail.”