New Delhi, March 2 
The Supreme Court today appointed its retired judge HS Bedi as the chairman of the monitoring authority that is supervising the investigations into 22 alleged fake encounter killings in Gujarat during 2002-06.

“We would like the monitoring to be done by someone whose neutrality is completely beyond any question,” a Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desi clarified in the order passed on two PILs seeking a thorough probe into all fake encounters in Gujarat. The PILs have been filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar and journalist BG Verghese.

The Bench made it clear that it had no objection to the monitoring authority appointed by the Gujarat Government, but it should be headed by a person of SC’s choice. Former SC judge MB Shah headed it for some time, but the state government appointed former Bombay High Court Chief Justice KR Vayas last month without consulting the apex court following Justice Shah’s resignation. The chairman of the authority could be appointed only with the ‘express permission’ from the SC, it ruled.

The Bench requested the monitoring authority to submit a status report on the investigations within three months.

Gujarat’s Additional Advocate General Tushar Mehta sought to avert the appointment of Justice Bedi, contending that Justice Shah had agreed to reconsider his decision to quit. Mehta also pleaded with the Bench to accord similar treatment to encounter cases from all the states, instead of singling out Gujarat on the issue.

“Whatever happens to other states should happen to Gujarat,” he said. The Bench assured him that it would give the same treatment to human rights violations in other states as well. “You bring any case of fake encounter and you will not find this court wanting. At the moment, we are dealing with these two petitions. We consider the state government as our Constitutional ally,” the SC said.

The Supreme Court granted bail to Gujarat Police inspector VA Rathod, an accused in the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, allegedly in a fake encounter. The court noted that Rathod was not an accused in the first chargesheet and that he had already spent three years and 10 months in jail.