The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has informed the Delhi High Court that as per its guidelines it is mandatory to conduct a magisterial enquiry into every incident of police encounter and this also applies to the much talked about Batla House case in the Capital this past September. The NHRC has made this submission in a response to a query by the Delhi High Court asking it to explain whether its guidelines on conducting a magisterial inquiry into a police encounter could be followed to probe the Batla House Encounter.
The Delhi High Court had sought explanation from the NHRC after Lieutenant Governor of Delhi decided not to conduct a judicial enquiry into the encounter. The Bench was hearing a petition by an NGO Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) seeking a judicial enquiry into the Encounter. Later, observing that the Delhi Government’s reluctance to follow the NHRC’s guidelines would undermine the statutory body, the Court gave the indications that it would direct the NHRC to conduct an enquiry into the encounter if the Government refused to follow the guidelines. The petitioner submitted that it’s been almost five months and nothing has been done by the NHRC so far as Magisterial Enquiry into the Batla House Encounter is concerned. The Delhi High Court had earlier refused to order a judicial enquiry into the Encounter as pleaded by the petitioner.