Former parliamentarian Atiq Ahmed’s sister has approached the Supreme Court claiming the Uttar Pradesh government and the State Police “responsible” for the extrajudicial killings of her two brothers and a nephew.
Aisha Noori has sought a comprehensive inquiry into the “campaign of extrajudicial killings” orchestrated by the State against her family.
“The petitioner, who has lost her brothers and nephew in State-sponsored killings, seeks a comprehensive inquiry by a committee headed by a retired judge of this Court or in the alternative by an independent agency,” read the petition.
“The police authorities are enjoying the full support of the U.P. government, which appears to have granted them complete impunity to kill, arraign, arrest and harass members of the petitioner’s family as part of a vendetta,” the petition added.
An “effective investigation” into the killings, especially when the State was involved, was her fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, she told the apex court.
A “piecemeal inquiry” would fail to net the “higher authorities” responsible for the “authorising, planning and coordination” of the killings, she said.
The petition further said: “In order to deter the government from continuing with its unconstitutional programme of terror and to restore the rule of law in the State, it is essential that an agency independent of the government carries out an across-the-board inquiry, which can evaluate the role played by high-level State agents who have planned and orchestrated the campaign targetting the petitioner’s family.”
On April 15, former MP and MLA Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead by three assailants – a brazen attack caught on live television. The two were being escorted by the police in the Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state for a “routine medical checkup” late that night when a group of journalists stopped them. As soon as the brothers started talking to the reporters, the three suspected attackers, allegedly posing as journalists, fired multiple shots, killing Atiq and his brother on the spot.
Atiq, 60, was a six-term legislator, including one term in Indian parliament. He successfully contested five state assembly elections from Allahabad West constituency – thrice as an independent candidate, once as a Samajwadi Party leader, and once as a candidate of his own Apna Dal party. The sixth time, Atiq contested the 2004 general elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket and became a member of parliament.
He was with more than 100 legal cases against him, including murders, kidnapping and extortion. He was convicted and jailed in 2019 for kidnapping a lawyer, Umesh Pal, who had testified against him in a 2005 murder case of a local legislator named Raju Pal.
Umesh Pal was murdered in February this year. Police suspected Atiq’s 19-year-old son Asad Ahmed’s role in the murder. Incidentally, Asad, along with his aide Ghulam Hussain, was shot dead by the Uttar Pradesh police in another encounter only two days before Atiq’s murder.
Atiq’s murder came only two weeks after the Supreme Court rejected his plea in which he had expressed apprehensions about his safety.
Fearing for his safety, Atiq submitted a petition before the Supreme Court saying he “genuinely apprehends and believes” he “may be killed in a fake encounter on one pretext or the other” by the police.
“The state machinery will take care of you,” the top court judges said and dismissed his plea.
And eventually, he was killed within days.
