|
Action Alerts
|
October 18, 2003 Hindustan
Times After
Best, SC to monitor 9 other Gujarat cases Syed
Liaquat Ali After
the Best Bakery case, the Supreme Court has decided to monitor nine
other sensitive riot cases pending before trial courts in Gujarat in
an attempt to secure justice for victims. A
bench comprising Chief Justice V.N. Khare, Justice S.B. Sinha and
Justice A.R. Lakshmanan on Friday asked the state government to
submit, within four weeks, the status report about these cases —
including the list of witnesses, their statements to the police and
copies of FIRs. It
also asked the government to file an affidavit in connection with
the acquittal of the accused in three major riot cases in October
last year. Friday's
order came on two affidavits filed by an NGO, Citizens for Justice
and Peace, which alleged that the police did not properly
investigate the nine cases and that the state government did not
file appeals in the High Court against the acquittals by trial
courts in three cases. Referring
to the affidavits, amicus curiae (friend of the court) lawyer Harish
Salve urged the SC to suspend the trial in nine cases because the
investigations have not been carried out. He suggested a fresh probe
by a special investigation team of the Gujarat police in certain
areas. Salve
feared the cases might go the Best Bakery way after the commencement
of the trial as most of the witnesses named in the chargesheets are
relatives of the accused. Dealing
with the Best Bakery case, Salve pointed out that the prosecution,
in its appeal in the high court, did not seek re-investigation into
the case. However,
the bench left it to the high court to decide. On allegations that
Best Bakery case witnesses were being questioned by the police when
there was no order for reinvestigation into the case, it asked the
state government to ensure that the witnesses were not harassed. Meanwhile,
senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi, representing the accused, objected to
the continuation of the case before the SC as this would influence
the hearing of the Best Bakery appeal pending before the high court.
The
CJI sharply reacted to the contention. "Do you want to be
acquitted through an eyewash appeal?" the CJI asked. Observing
that whatever had happened in the Best Bakery case was not in line
with the procedure, he said: "We want a fair trial." The
CJI made it clear that the SC had not expressed any opinion on the
merit of the appeal, which could affect the rights of the accused.
It asked the high court to proceed with the appeal without being
influenced by any observation, if made by it on the merit of the
case. The
CJI said the SC could have taken up the appeal if it wanted to deal
with the case on merit. "We are awaiting the decision of the
high court," he added. Also
in SC... Gujarat
govt plea: Some newspapers have misquoted the Chief Justice in the
Best Bakery hearing. Such reports can influence the appeal pending
before the high court. CJI’s
reply: I have not found any report misquoting me. SC cannot stop the
media from reporting the proceedings. The judges will not be
influenced by news reports. SC/ST
panel chief: The NHRC filed the Best Bakery petition without
consulting us. We were kept in the dark about the decision. We do
not understand the role the NHRC is playing. Supreme Court’s reply: It is an internal matter of the two panels and it should be solved internally. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/181003/detNAT23.shtml
|
Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd.