The Hindu : National : T.S. Nanavati, new pleader

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Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007
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T.S. Nanavati, new pleader

Manas Dasgupta

He takes the place of Arvind Pandya

Government seeks more time to submit analysis of CDs with call details
Rights activists demand fresh CBI inquiry into the Tehelka episode

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government has appointed Mr. T.S. Nanavati as its pleader before the G. T. Nanavati and K. G. Shah judicial inquiry commission probing the Godhra train carnage and the post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.

The appointment of a new advocate was necessitated by the resignation last week of Mr. Arvind Pandya following the Tehelka exposes in which he was shown making derogatory remarks about the commission members and the alleged involvement of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, in the communal riots. Mr. Nanavati was Mr. Pandya’s junior in the team of the government pleaders appearing before the commission.

The State government on Tuesday sought more time from the commission to submit its analysis of the two compact discs submitted by the former crime branch police official, Rahul Sharma, containing details of the calls made to and from some 40 mobile numbers held by prominent political leaders, bureaucratic and police officials during the riots.

The government was due to submit its analysis on Tuesday but in view of the upheaval caused by Mr. Pandya’s resignation, the new pleader asked for more time and was granted two weeks time by the commission. The hearing on the Sharma CDs would now be taken up on November 17.

The commission also accepted the request of the Jansangharsha Manch, which is representing the riot victims, for a discussion on the Tehelka exposure, particularly Mr. Pandya’s role, and decided to take up the matter on November 23. The advocate for the Congress before the commission, Hiralal Gupta, also submitted an application demanding summoning of all those named in the sting operation for cross-examination to ascertain the truth and the roles played by various leaders and police officers in the 2002 riots.

Meanwhile, the “Concerned Citizens of Gujarat,” the common platform for the human rights activists in the state, has demanded a fresh CBI inquiry into the episodes exposed by the Tehelka sting operation. In a joint statement, the human rights activists urged the Centre to amend the relevant act under which consent of the State government was required to order a CBI inquiry into any matter of law and order.

Pointing out that the exposé had caused “strong moral outrage” among the people, they wanted the BJP as the ruling party then at the Centre, and also in the State to issue a public statement accepting moral responsibility for the 2002 incidents and condemning those exposed in the “Operation Kalank.”

They also wanted the State government to move for the cancellation of bail of all those exposed in the sting operation, including the leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad like Babu Bajrangi and Jaideepbhai Patel, named in the exposure, and suspend all the police officials named guilty of collusion with the riotous mobs.

The activists condemned the Ahmedabad district collector, who is also the district election officer, for issuing an “unilateral and unconstitutional” ban order on television channels telecasting the Tehelka operations and described it as a “direct and serious infringement of the freedom of the press.”

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