BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court ordered a judicial magistrate enquiry into the alleged 2025 police encounter of a migrant labourer, who was accused of rape and murder of a minor girl in Hubballi-Dharwad.
The HC said the enquiry report should be submitted on June 8, 2026. Referring to the directions issued by the Supreme Court in People’s Union for Civil Liberties, the division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha directed that those norms must be strictly observed in all cases of death and grievous injury in police encounters by treating them as law declared under Article 141 of the Constitution of India.
The judicial magistrate concerned should also bear in mind the guidelines issued by the National Human Rights Commission for conducting an inquiry in cases of death in custody or in the course of police action, said the HC, in the order passed recently.
The court was hearing the public interest litigation, filed in 2025 by People’s Union for Civil Liberties-Karnataka, and Dr Madhu Bhushan. The counsel said instead of filing an FIR for custodial death, it was filed against the accused-deceased, and no police officials were named.
There should be a magisterial enquiry in accordance with Section 196 of the BNSS. An enquiry by an Executive Magistrate was conducted, which is not in conformity with the directions issued by the apex court, the counsel argued.
Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty said that there is no requirement to name the police officials as accused, as the entire incident is recorded, and that if any further offences are to be added, the same can be done at an appropriate stage. He assured that all aspects of the incident recorded would be investigated by the CID, including the role of the police officials.
Insofar as the conduct of enquiry by a judicial magistrate is concerned, he submitted that there is no objection for this court to issue directions in this regard. In fact, a reference was made for conducting an enquiry by a judicial Magistrate. However, the same was declined on a misreading of the directions issued by the apex court, he argued.
On April 13, 2025, at around 10.45 am, the police received information regarding a body of a child, which was abandoned near a shed in Vijayanagar. The accused took the police to the outskirts of an abandoned house, where he resided, where the child’s body was found.
The accused was shot near that house. As the accused tried to escape by pelting stones at the police, and tried to strangulate a woman constable. Two warning shots were fired. Thereafter, three shots were fired at him, and he succumbed to the same.