HYDERABAD: Aiming to set aside all doubt regarding the alleged encounter, in which the four persons accused in the Disha case were killed, the Telangana High Court on Saturday ordered for a re-postmortem on their bodies by an independent team of doctors from New Delhi. The accused — Mohammed Arif, Ch Chenna-keshavulu, J Siva and J Naveen — allegedly raped and murdered Disha on November 27. On December 6, they were killed by the police, allegedly in an encounter, near Shadnagar.
A division bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy directed the principal secretary (medical and health) to request the superintendent of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to form a medical board of three senior-most forensic doctors and immediately send them to Hyderabad to carry out the second post-mortem before 5 pm on December 23.
The bench directed the board to submit a detailed post-mortem report of each body, and an independent conclusion. The team would also have to submit a video recording of the post-mortem to the court’s registrar general. After the procedure, the bodies must be handed over to the family members of the deceased under police supervision, the court said. The government has been directed to ensure all necessary arrangements, including air travel and accommodation, are made for the members of the medical board.
The bench also directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the state government to seize the weapons used by the police in the alleged encounter, and to send them to the Central forensic science laboratory for an examination. The SIT should also seize the case diary, log books, entries of the weapons, movement reports of the police from the date of filing of the FIR in the rape-and-murder case to the date of the alleged encounter.
The team would also have to collect details of call records, cell phone tower locations, and CCTV footage of the police station from where the accused were taken to collect necessary evidence. This evidence must be preserved and placed before the three-member enquiry commission appointed by the Supreme Court, the bench noted.
Disha-case accused’s bodies may be 50% decomposed, Gandhi Hospital tells TS HC
The bench passed these orders on a PIL based on a representation given by K Sajaya and other women activists, and other petitions challenging the extra-judicial killing of the accused. Pursuant to an earlier direction of the court, Gandhi Hospital superintendent Dr P Sravan Kumar appeared before the bench to explain the condition of the bodies preserved at the hospital.Replying to the bench’s queries on the status of the bodies, Dr Kumar said they might have decomposed internally to an extent of 50 per cent, and in five or six days, it would reach 100 per cent. The bodies, as of Saturday, are being kept at a temperature of two-to-four degrees Celsius. There are no such mortuaries or hospitals with facilities to preserve bodies at sub-zero temperatures, he added.
Meanwhile, State Advocate General BS Prasad said there was no need to doubt the capacity and expertise of the State’s medical team of qualified doctors who carried out the first post-mortem examination at a district hospital in Mahbubnagar. Even the enquiry into the case by the magistrates concerned was held legally, he said, adding that the autopsy was conducted in compliance with the Supreme Court guidelines in the PUCL vs State of Maharashtra case. He further argued that the petitioners are not justified in seeking a second autopsy.
The AG further submitted that the state government would not object to a second autopsy, if it was conducted by doctors from Telangana. As for collection of evidence, the SIT investigation is being done in a proper manner, and there is no need for any further orders, he noted. On the other hand, SC advocate Vrinda Grover, said the “collection of evidence” cannot be restricted to a second autopsy, but must be extended to collection of evidence that can be marshalled out in case a trial is held against the police personnel involved in the alleged encounter. Senior advocate D Prakash Reddy, said there is an urgency in carrying out the second autopsy and in handing over the bodies to the relatives of the deceased to perform last rites.
To be done by team from AIIMS
The HC said the re-postmortem would have to be done by three senior-most forensic doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi, before 5 pm on Dec 23
‘Second procedure will remove all doubt’
While ordering for a re-postmortem on the bodies of the accused, the High Court said, “Since the alleged accused persons have been killed while they were in police custody, the people’s faith in the rule of law needs to be restored to its pristine and primary position. Justice should not only be done, but must also appear to be done. As the death of (the) four alleged accused persons has occurred in police custody, it is imperative to collect all evidence with regard to the alleged encounter.”
The bench said that the bodies must be subjected to a second autopsy only to ensure that impartiality and objectivity are guaranteed, and no one is permitted to raise even a remote doubt on the impartiality and objectivity of the investigation.
The court, while describing the rape and murder of Disha as the most unfortunate incident, said, “It is essential to note that truth can be discovered, only if proper evidence is collected, preserved and projected.” Referring to the SC order, wherein it opined that it is desirable and necessary to know the truth relating to the incident which has resulted in death of all the four accused persons when they were in police custody pursuant to an order passed by the court.