[Hyderabad Encounter] Second Autopsy To Be Done To Restore People's Faith In the Rule of Law : Telangana HC [Read Order]

The division bench of the High Court of Telangana comprising of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Abhishek Reddy, while observing the necessity of second autopsy of accused's dead body in the alleged rape and murder of the lady veterinary doctor, said,

" Since the alleged accused persons have been killed, while they were in police custody, the faith of the people in the rule of law needs to be restored to its pristine and primary position"

In the PIL filed, the petitioner alleged that in order to reconstruct the scene of the crime, the police had taken the four offenders accompanied by armed personnel in the wee hours of 6.12.2019.

It was alleged by the police that while the police personnel and the four accused were at the crime scene, the accused tried to snatch the fire arms worn by the police personnel and fired the fire arms at the police. And therefore, in an act of the alleged self defence, the police killed the four offenders and that it had occurred in the early hours of the morning.

When the court was informed that the bodies of the four accused persons are being preserved in the Government District Hospital, Mahaboobnagar, and also that there might be some difficulty in preserving the bodies, the court said,

" it is absolutely necessary that the bodies be preserved even after they were subjected to an autopsy. For, further evidence can still be culled out from the bodies, if necessity so arises."

The court also relied on the opinion of the apex court, where the apex court said that,

"keeping in view all the peculiarities of the case, it is desirable and necessary to know the truth relating to the incident which has resulted in the death of all the four accused persons when they were in custody of the police pursuant to an order passed by the Court."

Though the Advocate General submitted , that the petitioners are not justified in seeking a second autopsy, while relying on the petition filed before the apex court, wherein he said there is no prayer for organizing a second autopsy to be performed on the bodies of the accused persons. The court said that,

" the second autopsy should be carried out by a medical team consisting of doctors from Telangana itself, rather than, of doctors from outside the state."

The court contended that, "while investigating the case, the objectivity and impartiality of the investigation should not only be maintained, but it must also appear to be maintained and indeed performed." The court also said that the second autopsy is essential in order to screen out the possibility of any doubt creeping in with regard to the authenticity of the first autopsy.

The court further directed the Principal Secretary, Medical & Health, Government of Telangana, to request the Superintendent of AIIMS, New Delhi to constitute a Medical Board of three senior most forensic Doctors to conduct the second autopsy and to videotape the same.

The court also directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the State of Telangana to seize the Case diary, the log book, the Entries of the Weapon, the Movement Reports of the police from the date of filing of the FIR of the alleged encounter. And also, to seize the weapons used by the police in the alleged encounter as well as all necessary evidence which may be useful for the Commission appointed by the apex court for assessing the evidence.

Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for the Petitioners 

Read Order