IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – March 9th, 2009

by on August 11, 2009

IN THIS ISSUE

NEWS HEADLINES

OPINIONS & EDITORIALS

NEWS HEADLINES

GUJARAT RIOTS: SIT SUBMITS REPORT TO SC (MAR 2, 2009, REDIFF)

Nearly a year after it was set up by the Supreme Court, a high-powered Special Investigation Team probing the post-Godhra riots cases in Gujarat has submitted its report before the apex judiciary. The report of the SIT, headed by former Central Bureau of Investigation director R K Raghavan, is investigating 10 cases including the Godhra train burning and subsequent riots and submitted the report before a three-judge bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam.

The bench, in a brief hearing on Monday, said the confidential report would not be given to any party involved in the matter. The copy of the main report is only allowed to be given to Gujarat government and senior advocate Harish Salve who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter. The reports were placed in sealed covers.

The apex court had on March 26, 2008 constituted the SIT which besides Raghavan has former director general of Uttar Pradesh police C D Satpathy and three Indian Police Service offices from Gujarat – Geeta Johri, Shivanand Jha and Ashish Bhatia as the members. The bench asked the Gujarat government and Salve to file their suggestions and views on the report within four weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on April 13. During its probe, the SIT recorded the statement of former DGP P C Pandey who was the commissioner of police in Ahmedabad during the riots in 2002.

http://in.rediff.com/news/2009/mar/02godhra-gujarat-riots-sit-submits-report-to-sc.htm

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GODHRA CASE TRANSFERRED FROM POTA COURT TO SESSIONS COURT (MAR 7, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)

In an important development, Special POTA judge Jyotsna Yagnik, on Friday, ordered the transfer of the Godhra train carnage case to the Godhra Sessions Court, with immediate effect. Simultaneously, she also directed the state government to shift all the 79 accused in the case from the Sabarmati Central Jail to the Godhra district jail by revoking the orders under Section 268 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which prevented shifting them from the Sabarmati jail. With this development, the trial will now commence in the Godhra Sessions Court under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Once the trial starts, the accused can apply for bail, which was earlier denied to them under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).

Advocate Ilyas Khan, representing the accused, said, all records and proceedings of the case will now be transferred to Godhra for initiating the trial. With Friday’s orders, the accused will now have to be shifted to the Godhra district jail, bringing much relief to their relatives, who earlier had to send meals for the accused daily from Godhra to Ahmedabad. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court also ordered that the Special POTA Court in Ahmedabad must implement the apex court’s order of December 1, 2008, upholding the constitutional validity of the Central POTA Review Committee (CPRC). The CPRC had recommended that POTA did not apply to the accused in the Godhra train case as there was no evidence of terror conspiracy. It also recommended the trial of the accused under the IPC.

The recommendations were made binding on the court and the state government. Its implementation was, however, delayed due to a case filed by a relative of the Godhra train carnage, challenging the findings of the CPRC. On Friday, the Supreme Court also refused to grant a stay on the Gujarat High Court judgment dismissing POTA charges against the accused. The apex court’s directions came on Sardarsinh Maganji Vaghela’s petition that had demanded a stay on the High Court’s orders.

The High Court had, in its February 12 order, observed that there was no evidence to suggest that the accused had entered a conspiracy and had committed the offence, though it was without doubt, a serious and shocking incident. The bench had ordered the shifting of the case from the POTA Court to the trial court. Sayeed Umarjee, the son of 72-year-old Maulana Hussain Umarjee, who is lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail, welcomed the ruling to shift the trial to the Godhra Sessions Court. He demanded an apology from the state government for "maligning the Muslims of Godhra by portraying them as terrorists", and also sought action against the policemen "for framing the accused under POTA without evidence".

Sayeed also welcomed the Supreme Court order to refuse a stay on the Gujarat High Court order repealing POTA against the Godhra accused. Senior advocate Mukul Sinha, who had defended the POTA victims, said: "It is a victory of seven years of struggle and vindication of the innocence of the minority community." He added: "We have been saying from the beginning that POTA was invoked in the Godhra case by the Gujarat government and investigating officer Noel Parmar, with mala fide political intentions to malign the Muslim community and portray them as terrorists. What they wanted was mass reaction from the Hindu community to carry out genocide on Muslims." Noel Parmar and all supervisory officers should be immediately prosecuted under Section 58 of POTA for misusing the provisions of the law, he further said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyid=431946

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BJP WORKERS RANSACK NAVRANPURA POLICE STATION (MAR 3, 2009, TIMES OF INDIA)

Naranpura police station was under siege late on Sunday night. BJP MLA of Sabarmati, Gita Patel, led a huge group of BJP workers and supporters and ransacked the police station. This was after a BJP youth wing member, Nilesh Arya, alleged that cops beat him up along with his family members on Sunday. BJP workers also alleged that cops have been targeting them because during a Lok Darbar, a month ago, Patel had complained about rampant illicit liquor business in many parts of Navrangpura besides other areas in the city. And, the matter had gone up to the home minister, causing much embarrassment to the city police.

This underlying tension finally sparked off on Sunday night when Nilesh’s elder brother Arjun Arya and his wife were returning home in Shivam Apartments in Nava Vadaj on a bike. Arjun got in to an accident with a car near Vyasvadi and the car driver and Arjun entered into a scuffle. Nilesh, who was also present at the spot, intervened. Naranpura police station officials rushed to the spot. Nilesh later alleged that cops targeted him and his family members and womenfolk too were abused and beaten up.

Later in the night, the matter took a serious turn and BJP workers vent their ire on the police station. Cross complaints were lodged by BJP workers and cops. Cops said that they were attacked with sticks and swords. While, the complaint of BJP workers against police is a non-cognisable offence, cops have registered criminal offences against the party workers for attacking and halting police from fulfilling their duty and threatening them.

"Both complaints have been registered. After verifying all details we will initiate punitive action," said assistant commissioner of police, ND Parmar. Patel alleged before Parmar that Nilesh had helped her collect evidence against illicit liquor trade rampant in Naranpura. She alleged that this is why Nilesh had been being targeted and demanded that the police officers who had beaten up him and his family members should be suspended.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4214904.cms

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MECCA MASJID BLAST CASE HAS TURNED COLD: CHIDAMBARAM (MAR 6, 2009, HINDUSTAN TIMES)

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said in Hyderabad that the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case – in which an explosion killed nine people and five died in police firing – has turned "cold" as the two primary suspects are dead. "The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the case but in police language the case has turned cold. The reason is we think that two primary suspects in that case are dead," he told reporters. "Unless we get further clues, it is not possible to take that forward but the CBI is working on that," he said when asked about progress made in the case.

Nine people were killed in a bomb blast during Friday prayers at the historic Mecca Masjid here on May 18, 2007. Five people were killed in subsequent police firing on protesters outside the mosque. Police claimed that Shahid Bilal, a key suspect in the case, was killed in a shootout in Pakistan a few weeks after the mosque blast. Shahid, a native of the city, was allegedly working for Bangladesh-based terror group Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI).

Chidambaram also said investigations were nearing completion in one of the twin blast cases of August 25, 2007 and that a chargesheet would be filed soon. As many as 43 people were killed in the near-simultaneous blasts at Lumbini Park and a popular eatery Gokul Chat in the heart of Hyderabad that day. "I am told that in one of the cases, the investigations are nearing completion and a chargesheet will be filed shortly. The other one will follow thereafter," he said.

Chidambaram was addressing the news conference after a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, state Home Minister K Jana Reddy and senior police officials to review the security situation in the state. It was a follow-up of the meeting of state chief ministers in January. "I am happy with the progress made since that meeting," Chidambaram said. He noted that the state government has sanctioned 37,500 personnel for police forces and of them 16,322 were in the process of being recruited.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=58f29980-5923-4d1a-8794-1455bbb26564

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NHRC ASKED: PROBE OR NO PROBE INTO BATLA ENCOUNTER? (MAR 5, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to decide whether to follow Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna’s decision against a magisterial inquiry into police encounter deaths, such as Batla House, or stick to its mandatory guideline for an independent probe. The court sought NHRC’s response by March 18. The division bench led by Chief Justice A P Shah was referring to a revised set of guidelines issued by former Chief Justice of India and NHRC chairperson A S Anand on December 2, 2003, making an independent inquiry into police encounter deaths mandatory.

Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Khanna had last month refused sanction for a magisterial probe into the September 19, 2008 encounter deaths of Delhi serial blasts suspects Atif Amin and Mohammed Sajid in Batla House, at Jamia Nagar area of South Delhi. "If police refer the matter to the L-G, and he takes a decision

Related posts:

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  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – March 16th, 2009
  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – March 15th, 2010

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