Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Monday stayed all further proceedings before the Judicial First Class Magistrate of Adilabad Court against the police personnel who had participated in the alleged fake encounter of Maoist Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and journalist Hemchandra Pandey, in the present-day Asifabad district, on July 2, 2010. Justice Shameem Akhtar, was dealing with a petition by Ch Raghunandan Rao and other police personnel who were seeking revision of an order issued by the District Additional Session Judge directing the First Class Magistrate to conduct a trial against the 29 police personnel in the petition moved by Babita Pandey, wife of Hemchandra Pandey and Padma, wife of Azad.
Padma and Babita Pandey had filed a protest petition in the Magistrate court in May 2013, following the clean chit given to the policemen after it accepted a CBI inquiry report on the encounter. Mr. T Niranjan Reddy, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that earlier the First Class Magistrate court had dismissed the petitions of Padma and Babita Pandey against the police petitioners, on grounds of lack of evidence. While staying all further proceedings, the judge adjourned the matter.
