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Sunday, Aug 26, 2007
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Riots cases: fourth committee in a row

Meena Menon

It will examine pending cases which can be transferred to special courts

Setting up of special courts is a victory for the activists
Concern over panel’s mandate in regard to 1,371 closed cases

MUMBAI: Reactions have been mixed for the Maharashtra government’s high-level committee, set up last week to review cases of the Mumbai riots of 1992-93.

The committee, headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Chitkala Zutshi, will be the fourth set up by different governments to examine the cases of riots of 1992-93, each with limited results.

The mandate of the latest committee is to examine the cases which are pending and which can be transferred to the special courts for a speedy trial.

The decision to set up special courts to try more than 30 serious cases is a more concrete action, though highly belated. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that he would write to the High Court for setting up these special courts and also special prosecutors.

In the 2,270 cases relating to the riots, about 7,600 people were arrested. Charge sheets were filed in 894 cases. There were acquittals in 539 cases which the State has not challenged.

According to Ms. Teesta Setalvad of the Citizens for Justice and Peace and Nyay Andolan, which has been pushing for special courts, of the 206 cases pending, 82 are in the sessions courts and are of a serious nature.

While the setting up of special courts is a victory for activists, the fact that this committee is not going to examine the 1,371 closed riot cases is a cause for concern. Advocate Shakeel Ahmed of the Nirbhay Bano Andolan says that this committee has no powers and no real mandate. Most of the data the committee has to trawl through is already with the government, he says.

“This is what the Home Department should be doing anyway. By setting up a committee like this, the government has sought the easiest way out and has stymied a serious movement that was growing in the city to demand justice for riot victims,” he added.

The demand for a special investigation team, agreed to by Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil, has not been acted upon.

Regarding the closed cases, the Srikrishna Commission has produced a detailed report of the riots, with lists of witnesses, incidents and the police can go back to it if they really want to reinvestigate the cases, he adds.

Mr. Ahmed filed a petition in 2001 in the Supreme Court demanding action against the policeman indicted in the report.

The report of the Srikrishna Commission was tabled in the Assembly in August 1998 along with the Action Taken Report (ATR).

The ATR did accept certain recommendations of the Commission’s report and it is not true that the entire report was rejected by the saffron coalition, says Mr. Ahmed.

The Shiv Sena -BJP government also appointed a committee headed by the Director-General of Police to look into the 1,371 closed cases and another committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to examine the cases against the policemen.

Of the 1,371 cases re-examined, 112 were identified as meriting attention. Eight charge sheets were filed and some cases were pending, police said.

The Congress, which came to power in 1999, promised to implement the Commission report and set up a Special Task Force (STF) to examine the 1,371 closed cases.

The STF filed fresh charge sheets in eight cases and reopened 15 cases. Mumbai Police Commissioner D.N. Jadhav told a press conference recently that a special cell would be set up to examine the riot cases.

However, since then he has said that there was no need for such a cell and the police were anyway tracking the cases as a special effort.

He also denied that no action was taken against the policemen indicted.

Of the 31 policemen indicted by the Commission, criminal proceedings were initiated against nine of them and there were departmental inquiries against 21. Ten policemen were punished while 11 were exonerated and one of them died. Apart from the policemen indicted, departmental enquiries were initiated against 46 policemen and 33 of them were punished.

However, in the Suleiman Bakery case, where the then Joint Commissioner of Police, R.D. Tyagi, was discharged, the State is yet to file an appeal. In the Hari Masjid case too, there is no case against the policemen named by the Commission.

Instead, the victims were charged with violence and one of them, Farooq Mapkar, is still fighting his case in the fast track court at Sewri.

Mr. Ahmed dismisses the action against the policemen saying they were inadequately punished for their crimes. Over 15 organisations in the city recently demanded the reopening of closed cases and strict action against the policemen held guilty.

Only such a step can instil some confidence in the community, they say.

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