The Telangana High Court’s single bench suspended an enquiry report related to the rape-murder case of “Disha” on Wednesday. This report was submitted by the VS Sirpurkar commission, which was set up by the Supreme Court. The judge made this decision after considering writ petitions filed by former tahsildar Jaravath Pandu and former Station House Officer A Sridhar.
These petitions were also filed by police officers, and the judge directed the government not to take any coercive steps against them until the next hearing in July. The case (no.784/2019) was registered by the Shadnagar police in connection with the rape-murder of “Disha,” and the four accused were shot by the police team at the scene of the crime.
The commission recommended that ten police officers who were present at the scene should be tried for various offences. The police officers and tahsildar filed writs seeking to quash the commission’s specific findings, arguing that the report was not evidence-based. The court directed the government to hold off on any action based on the commission’s report until the next hearing in July.
Several public interest litigations (PILs) are pending before the Chief Justice bench of the court, requesting a CBI investigation into the “Disha” case and the encounter. These PILs were filed by various individuals and organizations, including retired professors, advocates, and women’s rights groups. The police officers involved in the case were also included in these PILs, which will be heard by the CJ bench for a final decision.
