New Delhi, August 1
The Supreme Court today indicated that it would issue orders for reopening of 1993 Mumbai riot cases either not registered by the police deliberately or closed or not tried properly by applying the same parameters as adopted in the Gujarat carnage.
The indication was given by a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari, while hearing a bunch of petitions seeking the implementation of Justice Srikrishna Commission report on Mumbai riots, pointing out gross neglect by successive governments in taking action against the perpetrators of law.
The court said though it could not examine meticulously each and every case but a general direction could be issued to the government on the same manner has it had done in the case of Gujarat asking the government to register cases where they were not registered, reopen the closed ones and investigate them properly and conduct the trial in fair manner in others.
Since the Maharasthra government had submitted three Action Taken Reports in 1998, 2004 and in April last on Srikrishna Commission report, the Bench today directed a battery of senior advocates, appearing for various individuals and organisations seeking its implementation, to file a joint affidavit bring to the court’s notice the neglected cases.
The affidavit to be filed after examining of the commission’s report and the three ATRs of the government should clearly indicate the FIRs registered, cases not registered despite complaints, accused discharged without action, public prosecutor not appointed and if appointed did not carry the trial procedure properly and any other glaring mistakes. They were given six weeks’ time to file it.
“It is not possible for this court to go meticulously into each case but a general direction can be issued for taking action where there are lapses in not taking it,” the Bench said.
Senior advocates Rajiv Dhawan and Y.H. Muchhala for the petitioners said the panel had pointed out that there were gross neglect on the part of the state government and the police in taking action even in serious cases and simply not registering the FIR and it had recommended registration of cases and their proper investigation and trial.
But the Bench said its hands were tied on issuing a direction on implementing the report as it was only recommendatory in nature and it was for the government to take further action on it.
