The Supreme Court on Thursday remained non-committal on an oral plea made by a Tamil Nadu lawyer for an independent probe into the killing of 20 woodcutters allegedly felling red sanders trees in Sesachalam forests near Tirupati.
A bench of Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra was apprised of the fatal shootout by the Andhra Pradesh Red Sanders anti-smuggling task force by advocate R. Krishnamurthy during the mentioning hour in the morning.
Mr. Krishnamurthy orally submitted that the police action defied right to life and dignity and required immediate intervention from court. He said that an investigation should be ordered into the 'fake' encounters, which is a human rights violation.
"Please file a proper petition first. Let us see," Chief Justice Dattu responded.
The development in the apex court comes even as the Hyderabad High Court took suo motu cognisance of the police action.
