Supreme Court rejects Bharat Tiwari encounter probe plea: ‘Go to High Court’

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 30, 2026 03:38 PM IST

Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, 28, was killed in a police encounter after a two-day standoff live-streamed to his 1.6 lakh Facebook subscribers.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking its intervention in the alleged encounter killing of Bharat Bhushan Tiwari in Bihar earlier this month.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Sheel Nagu, before which the plea came up, asked the petitioner, Vishal Tiwari, to approach the Patna High Court.

The PIL sought the constitution of an independent expert committee under the chairmanship of a former Supreme Court judge to inquire into Tiwari’s death. The petitioner said the matter is serious as encounter killings have become common not only in one state but in others as well.

When the bench asked why he had not approached the high court, the petitioner, an advocate, pointed out that similar petitions were pending before the Supreme Court and that the top court had issued guidelines regarding the manner of arrest and related matters.

Justice Sundresh, however, said the petitioner could seek enforcement of the guidelines through the high court too.

To a query about his locus standi, the petitioner said he had filed the petition in public interest.

Justice Sundresh said, “Then we will not entertain.”

While disposing of the plea, the court granted him liberty to approach the high court.

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The petitioner urged the bench to send his petition to the high court, but the Supreme Court declined the prayer, stating that Bharat Bhushan Tiwari’s family was already pursuing it.

“Go to High Court because they are monitoring better,” the bench said.

Encounter and aftermath

Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, 28, whose family describes him as a social activist, was shot on the morning of June 17 and died of “profuse bleeding” later that day at Patna Medical College and Hospital. The police claim he was armed and mentally unstable, while his family alleges he had surrendered and was targeted for pressing for the rehabilitation of flood victims.

An FIR under murder and Arms Act charges was filed against the police team, including then Jagdishpur subdivisional police officer Rajesh Kumar Sharma and Shahpur station house officer Rajesh Malakar. Sharma was stripped of his duties, attached to police headquarters, and replaced by Pankaj Mishra.

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The state government has also ordered a judicial inquiry into the shooting by a retired high court judge.