Karnataka High Court orders judicial probe into police encounter of migrant labourer in Hubballi

During the last hearing, the court asked counsel appearing for PUCL to respond to the Karnataka Government’s suggestion to constitute a judicial inquiry.

Appearing for PUCL, Senior Advocate Aditya Sondi Monday submitted that a judicial inquiry is mandatory and that a First Information Report (FIR) should be registered, and that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) should be formed to investigate the matter.

In its order, the bench recorded the submission of Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty. Shetty argued that there was no need to register an FIR naming the police officers because the entire incident had been recorded. He added that if any additional offences are identified during the investigation, they can be included in the FIR.

Shetty also stated that the Karnataka CID, which has now been assigned the case, will investigate all aspects of the incident. However, there is no objection to issuing a direction for an inquiry by a judicial magistrate.

PUCL moved the Karnataka High Court by filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) soon after the death of the migrant labourer, Ritesh Kumar, who was allegedly shot dead on April 13, 2025.

In its plea, it sought directions to register an FIR against the police officers, conduct a judicial inquiry into the incident, and follow the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in PUCL vs State of Maharashtra (2014) for cases involving deaths caused by police action.

The court has now posted the matter for further hearing on June 8.