The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on petitions demanding an independent investigation into police encounters with criminals in Uttar Pradesh.

The bench headed by Justice S.K Kaul decided not to hear the case, saying it would instead hear other matters in which the verdict could be pronounced soon.

During the last hearing, the top court had sought a fresh report from the Uttar Pradesh Police about the progress of investigation or trial in all 183 cases where criminals were killed in alleged fake encounters. The apex court had said, "Not only in these high profile cases (like Atiq Ahmed, Vikas Dubey etc.), there are also crimes which are committed in jails. It is worrying as to why this happens in jails. There is a nexus in this.

In April, the Supreme Court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to put on record the steps taken, including the investigation initiated, in the murder cases of Atiq and his brother Ashraf Ahmed. Advocate Vishal Tiwari moved the apex court demanding an independent expert committee and also sought investigation into all the encounters that took place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017. The year in which the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government came to power in the state.

Ayesha Noori, sister of slain gangsters Atiq and Ashraf, has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a comprehensive investigation by a commission headed by a retired apex court judge into the "custodial and extrajudicial" killings of their family members.

According to the statistics of UP Police, in the last 6 years, there have been more than 9 thousand 434 encounters between police and criminals in which 183 criminals have been killed. 5046 criminals have been arrested. During this period, 13 policemen have been martyred and 1443 policemen have been injured.