New Delhi: Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), a non-governmental organisation, has moved the Supreme Court questioning the appointment of P.C. Pande, who was Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police during the 2002 Godhra riots, as Gujarat Director-General of Police.

During his tenure as Commissioner, more than 700 persons, according to official figures, died in the riots in Ahmedabad, CJP secretary Teesta Setalvad said in a public interest petition.

Various independent tribunals and fact-finding bodies, both national and international, established that Mr. Pande was at least partially responsible for allowing the communal riots to take place. In the case of the Gulberg Society holocaust, in which more than 34 persons including Ahsan Jafri, former member of Parliament, were burnt alive, it was on record that Mr. Pande visited the area in the morning and promised reinforcements but did not do so and turned a blind eye to the murders, the petition said.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also concluded that the police were subverting investigations into the Gujarat riots and strongly recommended that the probe be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Three of the seven investigations, in respect of which the NHRC gave this recommendation, pertained to the brutal incidents in Ahmedabad.

Contending that Mr. Pande was guilty of gross dereliction of duty and that he had violated service rules, the petitioner sought a direction to quash his appointment as DGP. She also wanted the Centre and the Gujarat Government to take disciplinary action against Mr. Pande and prosecute him for having failed in his duties during the riots.

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