Law official recommends fresh probe against Bhagat

NEW DELHI, NOV. 3. A senior law officer of the Centre has recommended a fresh probe into a closed 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against the former Union Minister, Mr. H. K. L. Bhagat, saying the police were predetermined to absolve him.

``I find that there are strong reasons warranting order for further investigation as the case has been probed irresponsibly,'' the Additional Solicitor-General (ASG), Mr. K. K. Sud, said in his opinion to the Delhi Lt. Governor, Mr. Vijai Kapoor.

The Lt. Governor sought legal opinon following a representation given by the ``1984 riots carnage justice committee'', a body of eminent persons, after Mr. Bhagat was exonerated by a city court in a murder case at Mansarovar Park in east Delhi as the police said there was no evidence against him.

``A probe into the investigation leaves me in no doubt that whole material was collected (by the police) with predetermination to absolve the prime accused,'' Mr. Sud said. This opinion was strengthened by the fact that evidence of the complainant, Ms. Harminder Kaur, whose husband was killed, was not ``considered sufficient by the magistrate for taking cognisance against Bhagat.''

The metropolitan magistrate, Mr. J. P. Narain, accepting the police report giving a clean chit to Mr. Bhagat, cleared him of the allegations on September 11.

Recommending a fresh probe, the ASG said the matter should be expedited so that a supplementary chargesheet was filed and the trial did not get delayed. However there was no need to file a revision petition against the magistrate's order refusing to take cognisance of the offence against Mr. Bhagat.

The right perspective would have been a direction to the investigating agency to probe the case further as the magistrate was competent to decline acceptance of the final report submitted by the police, he said.

Since the case was triable only by a sessions court, the magistrate after summoning Mr. Bhagat could have committed the case to the Session Judge, Mr. Sud said.

It was for the Sessions Judge to either frame charges against Mr. Bhagat or discharge him after satisfying himself that there was no sufficient evidence to go ahead with the trial.The police in the final report stated Mr. Bhagat's presence could not be established at the scene of occurrence during the riots on November 1, 1984.

- PTI

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