The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the Hathras incident and issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government.
In its order, it said, “As it is, the deceased victim was treated with extreme brutality by the perpetrators of the crime and what is alleged to have happened thereafter, if true, amounts to perpetuating the misery of the family and rubbing salt in their wounds.”
“The incidents which took place after the death of the victim on 29 Sep leading up to her cremation, as alleged, have shocked our conscience, therefore, we are taking suo moto cognizance of the same,” the court said.
“We are inclined to examine as to whether there has been gross violation of the fundamental rights of the deceased victim and the family members of the victim; whether the State Authorities have acted oppressively high-handedly and illegally to violate such rights,” the court added.
The order further said, «We direct the Senior Registrar of this Court at Lucknow to register a suo moto Public Interest Litigation with the title «In Re : Right to decent and dignified last rites/ cremation” and place it before the appropriate Bench having jurisdiction to hear PILs.”
The court also stated, “The rights of individual citizens in the Country and the State especially that of the poor and the downtrodden such as the family members of the deceased victim and the deceased herself are paramount and the Courts of Law are under a bounden duty to see that the said rights available under the Constitution are protected at all costs and the State does not in its misplaced endeavour for political or administrative reason transgress the limits of its powers to encroach and violate such rights, especially in the case of poor and the weak.”
The High Court in its order further said, «We have also pondered over the heinous crime committed against the deceased victim and though an SIT has been constituted by the State Government in the matter, we leave it open for our consideration on future dates, as to the necessity of monitoring the investigation or getting it conducted through an independent agency as per law.”
The High Court also directed that the Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary (Home), Director General of Police, U.P. Lucknow, Additional Director General, Law and Order, U.P., District Magistrate, Hathras, Superintendent of Police, Hathras shall appear on 12 October before the court and put forth their version with support of requisite material.
The Allahabad HC further directed, “Family members of the deceased victim i.e. the father, the mother, brothers and sisters should also be present before this Court so that this Court ascertains the facts and their version of the incidents which took place at the time of cremation. In this regard we direct the District Judge, Hathras to ensure that the said family members are present before the Court on 12 October.”