LUCKNOW, Aug. 28 -- The scathing remarks by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on the Shravasti "half-encounter" have put the UP Police's much-touted encounter policy under fresh scrutiny and prompted a rethink within the department and the state government's legal team on how such cases are documented and defended in court.

The policy itself may not be rolled back, but the manner in which encounter cases are presented before courts is likely to change.

The Lucknow bench's August 13 order, in which Justice Subhash Vidyarthi flagged 10 major loopholes - ranging from "13 cops in one vehicle" to "two perfect shots in a moonlit night" - is now being seen as a case study in how inconsistencies in FIRs, charge sheets and affidavits...