The Supreme Court on Monday fixed December 12 to hear petitions which sought probe into alleged fake encounters between 2002 and 2007 in Gujarat even as the state government opposed sharing a report of the committee that went into these encounters with the petitioners. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi gave Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who opposed sharing the report with the petitioners, one week to file an affidavit stating his views. “Office Report indicates that Final Report of Hon’ble Mr. Justice H.S. Bedi, Chairman Monitoring Authority, in sealed cover, has been filed on 26th February, 2018. Shri Tushar Mehta, learned. Solicitor General submits that before the Court passes further order he would like to file an affidavit. The said affidavit may be filed within seven days from today,” the bench, comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said. Mehta requested the court to postpone the hearing to January 2019 but the court said it would hear it on December 12. “No, we need to hear the matter,” observed the CJI. The Bedi Committee was appointed by the apex court in 2012 acting on the petitions filed by journalist B G Verghese and lyricist Javed Akhtar. The petitions filed in 2007 sought an inquiry into 22 alleged fake encounters in the state when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister. Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Prashant Bhushan said he should be given a copy of the report. “This is the final report and we should have a copy before we can go forward,” he said. The committee was initially given three months to complete its report, but this was extended several times. Justice Bedi was appointed as chairman of the already functioning monitoring committee set up by the state government on March 2, 2012.
