New Delhi, Sept. 23: The Supreme Court today ruled that all encounter killings would from now on be probed by the Criminal Investigation Department of the state concerned or any police station except the one under whose jurisdiction the alleged shootout had taken place.

The court, which made it clear that “even the State (had) no authority” to violate the constitutional right to live with dignity, ordered mandatory filing of FIR in every case where death occurs, inquiry by a magistrate and “videographed” autopsy by at least two doctors.

The two-judge bench also banned immediate out-of-turn promotions for police personnel involved in such alleged encounter killings.

The directives were among a series of guidelines Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice R.F. Nariman laid down while dealing with a public interest petition filed by civil liberties organisation PUCL. The rights body had claimed that police personnel involved in such encounter killings in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra had been rewarded with accelerated promotions.

The court acknowledged the “difficult and delicate task” the police had to perform, especially when dealing with “hardcore criminals”, but said killings in police encounters affected the credibility of the rule of law.

“In some… countries when a police… officer is involved in a shooting, there are strict guidelines… in place to ensure that what has happened is thoroughly investigated. In India, unfortunately, such structured guidelines and procedures are not in place…. We are of the opinion that it is the constitutional duty of this court to put in place certain guidelines,” Justice Lodha said.