The Supreme Court Monday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to consider adding a former apex court judge and a retired police officer in the inquiry committee which is probing the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey.

The top court also said it was "appalled" that the gangster got bail despite so many cases against him.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, hearing a batch of pleas seeking court-monitored probe into the encounters of Dubey and his alleged associates, told the Uttar Pradesh government that they have to uphold rule of law .

"You as a state have to uphold the rule of law. It is your duty to do so," the top court said.

The bench said it cannot spare a sitting top court judge to become a part of the inquiry committee.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, sought some time to take instruction and get back to the court on the issue.

We are appalled to the fact that a person like Vikas Vikas Dubey got the bail despite so many cases, the bench said.

This is the failure of the institution and the person, who should have been behind the bars, got bail, the bench observed during the hearing which is going on.

Eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on July 3.

Dubey was killed in an encounter in the morning of July 10 when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area, the police had said.

Prior to Dubey's encounter, five of his alleged associated were killed in separate encounters.