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The Assam government strongly opposed a petition accusing it of violating a 2014 Supreme Court judgment regarding police encounters.
Supreme Court judgment: The PUCL vs. State of Maharashtra case ruled that police encounter deaths must be independently investigated to ensure public trust in the police.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that Assam violated the 16 mandatory guidelines from the 2014 judgment in the cases of 171 police encounters between May 2021 and August 2022.
Bhushan asked for an independent investigation led by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge.
Government’s defense: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the judgment was followed and claimed the allegations were baseless, which could demoralize police forces.
The Supreme Court reserved its judgment, stating it would only assess if the guidelines for handling police encounters were properly followed, not the merits of the alleged encounters.
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