Fresh plea on encounter deaths of 4 accused in Telangana rape-cum murder case filed in SC

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took note of the submission of lawyer Vrinda Grover, representing activist Sajaya K who had moved the Telangana High Court in the matter, to approach the apex court's registrar to get the plea listed for urgent hearing.

Sajaya, in her plea to the Telangana High Court, had sought a probe into the deaths of the accused. The Telangana HC had taken cognizance of the encounter deaths and had passed a slew of directions.

However, later the top court took note of two PILs on the issue and on December 12, decided to appoint a three-member inquiry commission headed by former apex court judge V S Sirpurkar to investigate into the circumstances leading to the encounter killing.

It said the commission, which also included former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and ex-CBI director D R Karthikeyan, will submit its report to the Supreme Court in six months.

The apex court also stayed proceedings pending in the Telangana High Court and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the case and sought an SIT report into it, saying no other authority shall inquire into the matter pending before the commission of inquiry till further orders.

The four persons, accused in the Hyderabad veterinarian's rape and murder case, were killed in an encounter on the morning of December 6.

Nationwide protests had erupted after the charred body of a 26-year-old woman was found at an underpass on the outskirts of Hyderabad on November 28.

The 26-year-old veterinary doctor was smothered, raped and then burnt allegedly  by the four men and her body was found the next day on November 28 under a culvert on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway.