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Quit if you cannot prosecute guilty, SC tells Modi Govt.

By J. Venkatesan

New Delhi Sept. 12. The Supreme Court today flayed the Narendra Modi Government in Gujarat for filing an "eye-wash" of an appeal in the High Court in the `Best Bakery case' and said: "Quit if you cannot prosecute the guilty". It directed the State Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police to be present in the court on September 19 to explain who had drafted the appeal.

A three-Judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice V.N. Khare, Justice Brijesh Kumar and Justice S.B. Sinha, found fault with the Modi Government for not being serious in prosecuting the appeal against the acquittal of all the 21 accused in the Best Bakery case.

Reminding the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, of his `raj dharma' to protect the weaker sections and punish the guilty, the Chief Justice told the Additional Solicitor-General, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Gujarat Government, "I have no faith left in the prosecution and the Gujarat Government. I am not saying Article 356. You have to protect people and punish the guilty. What else is raj dharma? You quit if you cannot prosecute the guilty. It is not your personal property. If you cannot protect the property of the people you cannot continue." Reacting to the CJ's strong remarks, Mr. Rohatgi said, "It was not an earlier system in which the Chief Ministers depended on the mercy of others. He is elected democratically." The Chief Justice retorted: "Democracy does not mean you will not prosecute anyone."

When P.P. Rao, senior counsel for the National Human Rights Commission read the trial court judgment to drive home the point about how the prosecution conducted the case, the Bench told the ASG "there is no cross examination as to why witnesses turned hostile and this shows the nature of the prosecution".

The Bench observed, "We do not have any trust anymore in your prosecution. We will order either a CBI investigation or have our own agency to investigate the matter. There appears to be some collusion between the Government and prosecution in a case where 14 people were burnt alive. Is this the way prosecution should conduct trial before the trial court?"

The Bench told the ASG, "We have absolute faith in our courts. There is no fault at all in the trial court. If you produce such a witness, what else the court can do?" Mr. Rohatgi said, "We will amend the appeal before the High Court." But the CJ said, "You will conduct in the same manner in the High Court also and we have no confidence left in the prosecution and the State Government." When Mr. Rao submitted that no grounds had been taken in the appeal for fresh investigation or retrial of the case, the Bench told the ASG, "Is this an appeal? Even a counsel with one year's experience will not draft such an appeal. It appears to us that it is an eyewash. It is just an eyewash and nothing else. We will not be silent spectators. We will act if the State keeps silent before the High Court".

The ASG invited the wrath of the CJ by submitting that in the last 40 years, several riots had taken place in the country and none of the rioters had been punished as no prosecution had ended in conviction. He gave the example of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot case in which no one could be punished.

The CJ shot back, "Just because nobody had been punished for the last 40 years, it does not mean that we should shut our eyes". He said, "We do not take any pleasure in doing so. But when we are forced to do, what else can we do?"

Earlier, Mr. Rao pleaded for a CBI probe into the case and trial outside Gujarat on the ground that the apprehensions of the NHRC that fair trial was not possible in the State had come true.

Another senior counsel for NHRC, T.R. Andhyarujina, submitted that of the 43 witnesses in the case, 37 had turned hostile and there could not be any trial in the High Court on the basis of evidence of these witnesses. Hence the case called for trial outside Gujarat, he said.

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