The Supreme Court has directed that the body of top Maoist commander Katha Ramchandra Reddy should not be cremated or buried until the Chhattisgarh High Court decides on allegations of torture and a staged encounter. The apex court left all contentions open and called for urgent hearing after the Durga Puja vacation.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Chhattisgarh police to preserve the body of top Maoist commander Katha Ramchandra Reddy, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Narayanpur district on September 22.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A.G. Masih stated,
“Till such time the high court decides the petition, the body shall not be cremated/buried,”
while requesting the Chhattisgarh High Court to urgently hear the case after reopening following the Durga Puja vacation.
The apex court clarified that it was leaving all contentions open and refrained from making any observations on the merits of the allegations.
The petition was filed by Raja Chandra, son of the deceased, through advocate Satya Mitra. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the petitioner, argued that his father had been tortured and killed in a fake encounter, and claimed that the police were attempting to hurriedly dispose of the body.
He further requested that an independent probe, preferably by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), be conducted excluding officers from Chhattisgarh, and also sought a fresh postmortem.
Raja Chandra, a researcher at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, stated that he wanted his father’s body to be preserved in a government morgue until an impartial investigation is carried out.
Appearing for the Chhattisgarh police, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that two Maoists, including Reddy and Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy, were killed in the encounter.
He added,
“Katha Ramchandra Reddy carried a Rs 7 crore bounty announced by seven states.”
Mehta further informed the bench that while the body of the second deceased Maoist was handed over to his family for cremation, Reddy’s body remains in hospital custody.
He emphasized that the postmortem had been conducted under video recording, leaving no scope for attributing mala fides to the police.
The bench observed that the petitioner had initially approached the Chhattisgarh High Court, but the matter could not be heard urgently due to the court’s vacation. As a result, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court seeking interim relief.
Disposing of the plea, the Supreme Court directed the preservation of Reddy’s body until the Chhattisgarh High Court decides the matter, ensuring that no cremation or burial takes place in the meantime.
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