INDIA BUSINESS WORLD SEPTEMBER (16th - 30th) 2007
The Month that was ...
PLEA FILED IN SC TO REOPEN MUMBAI RIOT CASES
IN a move that could spell trouble for the Shiv Sena top-brass, the Action Taken Committee on the implementation of Srikrishna Commission Report, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind and the Lawyers' Legal Aid Committee, in a joint affidavit filed in the apex court, sought initiation of prosecution and re-opening of old cases against Mr Bal Thackeray and his other senior party colleagues for their alleged role in 1992-93 Mumbai riots. They had earlier been indicted by the probe panel.
They also sought direction to the state government to register criminal cases against former chief minister Manohar Joshi and other political leaders who were allegedly responsible for organising mahaartis which were held by the commission as a major factor for inciting the riots. Alleging a half-hearted attempt of the state government to implement the commission's recommendations in totality, it prayed for punishment of guilty police personnel, as also a CBI inquiry into certain cases.
The implementation of the findings of the Srikrishna Commission report has been high on the agenda of the Left parties, as also Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The saffron leadership, however, is not unduly perturbed, and hopes to use the developments to expose the UPA-Left combine's minority 'appeasement' politics. Any move to execute its recommendations is likely to come in handy for the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the assembly polls scheduled to be held in the state in the latter half of 2009.
The apex court had on August 1, 2007 asked the petitioners to point out the cases where the state government had failed to take appropriate action, did not register offences against the culprits, and failed to carry out investigations in the cases.
"The whole purpose of appointing Srikrishna Commission to enquire into 1992-93 riots will de defeated unless the real forces, individuals and organisation/s which were behind the same are not properly dealt with in accordance with law" said the affidavit.
It sought initiation of prosecution against Bal Thackery, Uddhav Thackery and other political leaders of Shiv Sena and BJP for the substantive offences of rioting,arson and murders on the basis of police record and findings of Srikrishna commission.
"Moreover, the cases under section 153-A of IPC against Bal Thackery which have been closed by the earlier state government must be re-opened and re-investigated in accordance with law,'' the petitioners demanded.
The government should be asked to register criminal cases against former chief minister Manohar Joshi and other political leaders of BJP, Shiv Sena and other communal outfits who were responsible for organising maha-artis. Another former chief minister of the state, Sudhakar Rajusing Naik had admitted before the commission that he had participated in such maha-artis, the affidavit said. It cited commission's findings that after mahaartis, the Shiv sainiks who attended those on return attacked Muslim establishments.
Further, the state has not taken action against those police officers indicted by the commission which it ought to have take under law. In may of the cases either the guilty police personnels were not arrayed as accused and when made so, the cases against them were not properly investigated with the result that most of them were acquitted. Most of the indicted officers were not put behind bars. They should be tried by Special Fast Track Courts, the affidavit contended.
It said that during the Shiv Sena-BJP regime, about 1,371 criminal cases related to 1992-93 riots were classified as Summary "A". Out of it, the Special Task Force constituted for the purpose has reinvestigated only 112 cases. Among such cases, 1,259 remained untouched, the affidavit argued.
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