SIMI encounter: High Court dismisses plea of extremist's kin

Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has set aside a petition submitted by the mother of an extremist who owed allegiance to the proscribed Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and was among those neutralised in an encounter after breaking out of a Bhopal prison on October 31 last year. The plea by M Saliq’s parent Khandwa-resident Hujra Bi was against the proceedings of the commission constituted to inquire into the jailbreak and subsequent police action. 

“My son was in judicial custody and the charges levelled against him were unproved. The deceased were described as terrorists, traitors and SIMI activists – that sullies my family’s prestige. Law-enforcement authorities murdered them in a planned manner. The commission is not permitting cross-examination of witnesses by the petitioner’s counsel. Besides, scrutiny of documents pertaining to the jailbreak is also being disallowed,” the petition said. Chief Justice H Gupta and Justice VK Shukla observed that the panel is not probing into whether or not the accused were SIMI members. In the context of reputation, Ms Hujra could sue for defamation if she desired. 

On July 4, the Bench reserved its ruling. Its 30-page order, made public yesterday, said that the relatives of the deceased were to present themselves before the commission, but they did not enjoy the right to cross-examine anyone. (UNI)