Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Apply Gujarat riot case principle to Sikh riots case: PIL in SC

Apply Gujarat riot case principle to Sikh riots case: PIL in SC
29 Apr 2009, 0138 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: A day after Supreme Court directed a Special Investigation Team probe into the alleged role of chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002
post-Godhra communal carnage, a PIL sought to draw a parallel between the Gujarat riots and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots seeking parallel treatment by the judiciary.

The petition filed by advocate M S Butalia said the Supreme Court has handled the Gujarat riot cases with singular motive to bring to book the alleged perpetrators of the mayhem and requested it to take up the hundreds of anti-Sikh riots cases pending in various courts for 25 years without there being any justice to the victims and their families.

The PIL, filed through advocate Harshvir Pratap Singh, was also categoric that pendency of the anti-Sikh riot cases for 25 years made a mockery of the criminal justice system that should equally protect the victims and the right of the accused for a speedy trial.

If the accused are guilty, they should be punished or else they be let off, the PIL said while seeking an independent probe into the anti-Sikh riot cases on the line similar to one being conducted by SIT under ex-CBI director R K Raghavan into the Gujarat riot cases.

Referring to the infamous Best Bakery case and the judgment in it, the PIL petitioner said the SC had laid down several guidelines regarding the trial, which was transferred to Mumbai, to be conducted in a free and fair manner.

Butalia in his petition pleaded that after a free and fair investigation into the anti-Sikh riot cases, the trial should be conducted by public prosecutors appointed in consultation with the families of the victims.

The Supreme Court had on Monday ordered a SIT probe into the alleged role of chief minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues, BJP MLAs, VHP leaders including Praveen Togadia, and top police officials and bureaucrats on the basis of a complaint filed by Jakia Nasim Ahesan Jaffri, widow of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jaffri who was killed by a rampaging mob at Gulbarg Society in 2002.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Apply-Gujarat-riot-case-principle-to-Sikh-riots-case-PIL-in-SC/articleshow/4460532.cms

sikhsindia
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