Batla probe: NHRC admits it relied on official reports, didn’t visit spot

By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,

New Delhi: About one year after it gave clean chit to Delhi Police in Batla House encounter case, the National Human Rights Commission has admitted it relied on the official documents provided to it by concerned department, and it did not send its probe team to the Batla House area as part of its enquiry into the September 2008 encounter.

The NHRC has also admitted it did not talk to the families of Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid – the Azamgarh boys killed in the shootout of September 19, nor the family of Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma who got bullet injuries during the encounter and succumbed to it later in the evening on the same day.

The NHRC had given a clean chit to the Delhi Police ignoring the accusation of the affected families that the encounter was staged.

The statutory human rights watchdog was strongly condemned by rights groups and families of Azamgarh boys for giving a clean chit in its July 2009 enquiry report to the police in the September 19 encounter whose police version had glaring loopholes promptly pointed out by rights groups and media.

Now about one year after the probe, the rights body, in its reply to RTI petition filed by Afroz Alam Sahil, has admitted it relied on reports from concerned departments. Sahil had filed petition on April 6 2010 and he got reply recently.

Sahil asked NHRC if it talks to accused or plaintiff or their witnesses in fake encounter case. If yes, why didn’t NHRC meet family of MC Sharma, Atif and Sajid? The NHRC replied: “NHRC conducts enquiry under 1993 NHRC law. First it asks reports from concerned department. If the report is found satisfactory, enquiry is closed, otherwise continued. In Batla House case, NHRC did not its team to Batla area because to reach conclusion reports by concerned department were found enough.”

The NHRC in its July 22, 2009 report had given clean chit to Delhi Police in Batla House encounter case. The NHRC had conducted inquiry in the case on the direction of the Delhi High Court. In its report, the rights body had said there has been no violation of human rights by actions of police in the Batla encounter.

“We are clearly of the opinion that having regard to the material placed before us, it cannot be said that there has been any violation of human rights by action of police,” NHRC had said in its report.