PLEA FOR KARKARE KILLING PROBE REJECTED

The Supreme Court, on May 11, dismissed the petition for a probe into the killing of Hemant Karkare, then head of Maharashtra Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), who succumbed to his injuries during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. The petition, filed by Radhakant Yadav, wanted an independent fact-finding committee, headed by a sitting or a retired judge of the Apex Court, to look into the events before Karkare’s killing. A bench of Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar rejected the public interest litigation (PIL) but allowed him to move to the High Court. As under Article 32 a citizen of India can knock at the doors of the Apex Court for protection of his rights. The petitioner contended that the entire Mumbai terror attack should not be seen as single episode but two different attacks. The petitioner pointed to the book Who Killed Karkare, authored by former Maharashtra Police Chief S.M. Mushrif, which alleges the government explanation given for the ATS chief’s death illogical and unbelievable.