[dropcap]I[/dropcap]N response to a question asked by Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha, Sanjay Singh, the Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju yesterday, February 6, 2019, made available the data pertaining to fake encounters cases, and compensation provided by the appropriate government in such cases.
Singh asked the following questions in Rajya Sabha.
- Whether NHRC has maintained a record of fake encounter cases in all the States, if so, the details thereof since 2014, year-wise;
- the details of deaths as well as the ethnicity of the victims of encounters, and
- if so, the details of compensation provided by the appropriate Governments to the families of the victims, since 2014, year-wise?
In response, MoS (Home) replied that as per information made available by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) pertaining to period 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 (upto 20.01.2019) i.e. in last four years, a total of 824 cases have been registered with respect to deaths in police encounter. Of them, Chhattisgarh has topped with a total 234 cases alone in last four years, followed by Assam and Uttar Pradesh with a total of 179 and 81 cases respectively.
Pertinently, since the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government took charge of UP in 2017, there has been a consistent increase in the number cases registered in respect of deaths in police encounter in Uttar Pradesh. While between 2014 to 2017, a total of 16 cases in respect of deaths in police encounters in Uttar Pradesh were reported, from 2017-2018 upto January 20, 2019 alone, a total of 65 cases of death in police encounters have been reported in the NHRC.
It may be noted that a PIL is pending in the Supreme Court seeking independent probe into the encounters took place in Uttar Pradesh after BJP government in the state. The Supreme Court is set to hear the PIL on February 12, 2019.
With regard to the cases registered all over the country on the basis of complaints about killing in alleged fake encounters, MoS (Home) informed Rajya Sabha that a total of 250 cases of killings in alleged fake encounters have been registered from 2014 upto January 20, 2019. In this category, Andhra Pradesh has maximum number of 58 cases followed by Uttar Pradesh and Odisha with 43 and 28 cases respectively in which complaints of alleged fake encounters have been received.
Information shared in Parliament also reveals that from 2014 upto January 20, 2019, NHRC has recommended monetary compensation in total 102 cases, which were as follows:
2014-2015- Rs.7,500,000/- in 13 cases
2015-2016- Rs.8,800,000/- in 14 cases
2016-2017- Rs.18,850,000/- in 30 cases
2017-2018- Rs.20,350,000/- in 30 cases
2018-19 (upto 20.01.2019)- Rs.14,500,000/- in 15 cases
Read the reply given by MoS (Home).
[pdfviewer]https://cdn.theleaflet.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/07091601/Fake-encounter-NHRC.pdf[/pdfviewer]
