The Hindu : SC notice to Gujarat on CBI probe

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 04, 2002

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SC notice to Gujarat on CBI probe

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 3. The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Gujarat Government on a public interest litigation petition to order a CBI probe into all incidents of communal violence including the Godhra carnage as recommended by the National Human Rights Commission.

A three-judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice S.P. Bharucha, Justice B.N. Kirpal and Justice Shivaraj V. Patil, issued notice after hearing Anil Divan, senior counsel for the petitioners, D.N. Pathak and 15 other social activists.

The Bench directed the listing of the petition along with a similar PIL petition filed by Mallika Sarabhai in which the court had already issued notice to the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the BJP.

The petitioners sought an order to restrain the local police and probe agencies to proceed with the investigation of the cases till the court heard the matter. They sought a direction to the State Government to hand over to the CBI all cases relating to the incidents of communal violence, looting, arson, murder, rape, etc., which took place on and after the Godhra carnage on February 27, when several `karsevaks' were burnt to death.

They also pleaded that all cases in which "any person from police or ruling party may have been named or indicated as an accused'' should also be entrusted to the CBI and investigation of all these cases should be monitored by the Supreme Court, which must fix a time frame for completion of the probe and call for progress reports periodically from the CBI.

The petitioners further requested for a direction to the Gujarat Government to set up special courts to try all cases of communal violence in the State and those cases which were to be investigated by the local police should be monitored by special cells under a magistrate.

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