Police officials involved in encounter killings shall not be rewarded till their gallantry is established beyond doubt, the Supreme Court held today while framing a slew of guidelines including mandatory magisterial inquiry into such incidents.

Expressing concern that no guidelines are in place in the country, the apex court said certain procedure needs to followed in such cases to "bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime who take law in their own hands" and "to restore faith of the people in police force".

A bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha said cases of death in police encounters continue to occur in spite of Constitutional provisions for safeguarding the personal liberty and life of a citizen and directed that a magisterial inquiry must invariably be held in all cases of death in police encounter and a report thereof must be sent to judicial magistrate.