In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has laid down new guidelines for police encounters. Some of the guidelines include...

1. Magisterial inquiry under section 176 of the CRPC will be set up immediately after the encounter.
2. Policemen to surrender arms and ammunition immediately after the encounter.
3. Independent probe by state CID or a separate police station.
4. No award for officer immediately after the encounter.
5. Policemen to record tipoffs that led to the encounter.
6. The guidelines on fake encounters will be treated as law under section 144.


Government figures in 2013 show that in the last four years, 555 fake encounter cases were registered across India, with majority being reported in Uttar Pradesh (138), followed by Manipur (62), Assam (52), West Bengal (35), Jharkhand (30), Chhattisgarh (29), Odisha (27), Jammu and Kashmir (26), Tamil Nadu (23) and Madhya Pradesh (20).

Only 144 cases, out of 555, have been solved so far.Significantly, the data shows that of the top 10 States, five are Naxal-affected States. Barring 2012-13, where there has been a slight drop in such cases pan-India, in the previous three years there has been a steady increase.

The total number of fake encounter cases in 2009-10 were 103, which went up to 129 in 2010-11 and then to 197 in 2011-12.

Pic: Former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma who arrested, but later acquitted in the Lakhan Bhaiya case.