Judicial%20commissions%20specially%20constituted%20to%20probe%20high%20profile%20cases%20usually%20go%20on%20endlessly.%20So%20the%20three-member%20high%20level%20judicial%20commission%20inquiring%20into%20the%20shoddily%20carried%20out%20police%20encounter%20of%20Kanpur%20gangster%20Vikas%20Dubey%20is%20no%20exception.

Constituted%20by%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20precisely%20four%20months%20ago%20on%20July%2022%2C%20the%20commission%20of%20Inquiry%20headed%20by%20former%20SC%20judge%20BS%20Chauhan%20was%20assigned%20a%20two-month%20time%20frame%20to%20complete%20its%20findings.%26nbsp%3BAs%20such%2C%20it%20was%20expected%20to%20accomplish%20the%20task%20by%20the%20end%20of%20September.%26nbsp%3B

However%2C%20fact%20remains%20that%20even%20at%20the%20end%20of%20November%20the%20commission%20was%20far%20from%20halfway%20of%20completing%20its%20task.

According%20to%20Justice%20Chauhan%2C%20the%20commission%20had%20already%20sought%20extension%20of%20time.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%u201CWe%20started%20the%20inquiry%20once%20the%20commission%u2019s%20office%20was%20set%20up%20in%20Lucknow%20sometime%20in%20August.%20Thereafter%20we%20visited%20different%20places%2C%20including%20Vikas%20Dubey%u2019s%20village%20where%20he%20had%20gunned%20down%20eight%20policemen%2C%20as%20well%20as%20the%20place%20where%20he%20was%20killed%20in%20the%20encounter%20while%20being%20brought%20from%20Ujjain%2C%20where%20he%20had%20surrendered%20before%20the%20Madhya%20Pradesh%20police%u201D%2C%20he%20told%20this%20scribe%20over%20telephone%20from%20Noida%2C%20where%20he%20resides.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

He%20said%2C%20%u201CCurrently%2C%20evidence%20of%20policemen%20and%20government%20officials%20was%20being%20recorded%2C%20and%20once%20that%20is%20done%2C%20we%20will%20invite%20other%20parties%20to%20record%20their%20evidence%2C%20following%20which%20lawyers%20of%20the%20two%20sides%20will%20put%20across%20their%20respective%20arguments.%u201D

Attributing%20part%20of%20the%20delay%20to%20his%20own%20%u201Cbrief%20illness%u201D%2C%20he%20said%2C%20%u201Cthe%20report%20will%20be%20prepared%20only%20after%20this%20whole%20exercise%20is%20accomplished.%u201D%20While%20explaining%20how%20delays%20in%20judicial%20inquiries%20were%20unavoidable%20on%20account%20of%20the%20long%20laid-down%20procedures%20under%20the%20Commission%20of%20Inquiries%20Act%2C%20he%20candidly%20admitted%2C%20%u201CI%20cannot%20tell%20you%20how%20much%20more%20time%20the%20entire%20exercise%20could%20take.%u201D

It%20may%20be%20pertinent%20to%20mention%20that%20initially%20the%20delay%20was%20caused%20due%20to%20certain%20controversies%20that%20arose%20over%20the%20credentials%20of%20the%20three%20members%20of%20the%20commission.%20Besides%2C%20media%20reports%20raising%20serious%20questions%2C%20a%20Mumbai-based%20advocate%20Ghanshyam%20Upadhaya%20also%20moved%20a%20petition%20before%20the%20apex%20court%20against%20the%20appointment%20of%20Justice%20Chauhan%20as%20head%20of%20the%20commission.%20Upadhaya%u2019s%20argument%20was%20about%26nbsp%3BJustice%20Chauhan%u2019s%20nexus%20with%20the%20ruling%20BJP.%20He%20sought%20to%20argue%20on%20the%20grounds%20that%20Justice%20Chauhan%u2019s%20younger%20brother%20Virendra%20Singh%20was%20a%20BJP%20MLC%20while%20his%20daughter%20was%20married%20to%20a%20BJP%20MP%u2019s%20son.

However%2C%20the%20petition%20was%20not%20only%20dismissed%2C%20but%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20also%20flayed%20the%20petitioner%20for%20raising%20issues%20against%20the%20appointment%20of%20Justice%20Chauhan%20as%20head%20of%20the%20panel.%26nbsp%3B%22There%20are%20judges%20whose%20father%20or%20brother%20or%20relatives%20are%20MPs.%20Are%20you%20%28petitioner%29%20saying%20that%20they%20all%20are%20biased%20judges%3F%20If%20any%20relative%20is%20belonging%20to%20a%20political%20party%2C%20is%20this%20an%20illegal%20act%3F%u201D%20the%20apex%20court%26nbsp%3Btold%20Upadhaya.%26nbsp%3B%3Cbr%3E%26nbsp%3B

Earlier%2C%20the%20top%20court%20had%20dismissed%20a%20separate%20application%20seeking%20removal%20of%20two%20other%20members%20of%20the%20inquiry%20commission%2C%20saying%20that%20it%20would%20not%20allow%20the%20petitioner%20to%20cast%20aspersions%20on%20anyone.

The%20other%20two%20members%20of%20the%20judicial%20commission%20were%20former%20UP%20director%20general%20of%20police%20KL%20Gupta%20and%20retired%20Allahabad%20High%20Court%20judge%20S.K.Agarwal.%20Interestingly%2C%20the%20names%20of%20each%20of%20the%20members%20were%20proposed%20by%20Solicitor%20General%20Tushar%20Mehta%20in%20consultation%20with%20the%20UP%20government%2C%20which%20was%20clearly%20the%20interested%20party.%26nbsp%3B

Gupta%u2019s%20strong%20BJP%20nexus%20was%20an%20open%20secret%20and%20he%20headed%20the%20UP%20police%20during%20the%20Kalyan%20Singh%20regime.%20Besides%20his%20close%20relative%20Mohit%20Agarwal%20was%20Inspector%20General%20of%20Police%20of%20Kanpur%20zone%26nbsp%3Band%20his%20role%20in%20the%20encounters%20was%20bound%20to%20come%20under%20question.%20Doubts%20were%2C%20therefore%2C%20raised%20about%20his%20impartiality.%26nbsp%3B

Justice%20Agarwal%20had%20resigned%20after%20he%20was%20transferred%20from%20Allahabad%20to%20Jharkhand%20High%20Court%20in%20view%20of%20certain%20serious%20complaints%20against%20him.%20He%20was%20practicing%20lawyer%20in%20the%20Uttarakhand%20High%20Court%20when%20he%20was%20handpicked%20for%20the%20judicial%20panel.%26nbsp%3B

Interestingly%2C%20a%20Special%20Investigating%20Team%20%28SIT%29%20set%20up%20earlier%20by%20the%20UP%20government%20to%20go%20into%20the%20same%20case%2C%20has%20already%20submitted%20its%20report%2C%20indicting%20more%20than%20two%20dozen%20cops%20for%20their%20close%20connections%20with%20the%20gangster.

However%2C%20it%20was%20unlikely%20that%20the%20report%20of%20the%20judicial%20commission%20would%20see%20the%20light%20of%20the%20day%20anytime%20in%20the%20near%20future.%20Considering%20the%20pace%20at%20which%20the%20judicial%20probe%20is%20moving%20%2C%20it%20is%20difficult%20to%20imagine%20how%20many%20more%20months%20the%20crucial%20exercise%20could%20take.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23VikasDubey%22%20data-user-id%3D%22fmberG9CHaLk%22%20href%3D%22/topic/vikas-dubey%22%3E%23VikasDubey%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Encounter%22%20data-user-id%3D%22HLzkGQJaf4no%22%20href%3D%22/topic/encounter%22%3E%23Encounter%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Law%22%20data-user-id%3D%22Aw4F5ERihOtX%22%20href%3D%22/topic/law%22%3E%23Law%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23UPPolice%22%20data-user-id%3D%22vgYCDBxxjC9y%22%20href%3D%22/topic/up-police%22%3E%23UPPolice%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Investigation%22%20data-user-id%3D%22iUKUwVvFdxv3%22%20href%3D%22/topic/investigation%22%3E%23Investigation%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23BJP%22%20data-user-id%3D%22cqfihWqpWO59%22%20href%3D%22/topic/bjp%22%3E%23BJP%3C/a%3E%26nbsp%3B