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Mixed reaction to NHRC move

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR JULY 31. The Gujarat Government has declined to make any comment on the National Human Rights Commission's move to approach the Supreme Court for a re-trial of the Best Bakery case and for trying the Godhra carnage case and four other major cases outside the State.

While there was no immediate word from the Chief Minister's office, the State Law Minister, Ashok Bhatt, said it was too early to comment without studying the papers and documents before the NHRC and the Supreme Court. The Cabinet spokesman and Minister of Urban Development, I.K. Jadeja, echoed Mr. Bhatt's stand.

However, Kashiram Rana, Union Rural Development Minister who hails from Gujarat, virtually described the move as a "censure" of a lower court's judgment. The law allowed the Government to appeal against the lower court's order within 60 days of the judgment. As the stipulated 60 days had not expired since the Vadodara fast track court judge, H. U. Mahida, delivered his verdict on June 27, the NHRC should have waited for the State Government's decision on the issue before moving the Supreme Court, he said.

The NHRC move evoked strong reactions from some legal experts, particularly those owing allegiance to the ruling BJP. The former Rajkot Bar Council president, Abhay Bhardwaj, questioning the NHRC's competence to virtually censure the judgment, said its chairman, A.S. Anand, should have considered his own rulings as the Chief Justice of India strongly condemning any criticism of a court verdict. The State Congress spokesman and former Minister, Arvind Sanghavi, said both the NHRC and the Supreme Court were competent authorities and could take decisions within the constitutional framework of the country.

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