Mumbai: Don’t let commission findings influence you, report in 6 months: HC
The Hari Masjid firing of 1992-93 will be investigated again. Fifteen years after police bullets killed seven people at the mosque in Wadala, the Bombay High Court has directed the CBI to investigate the incident and file a report within six months.
The police had justified the firing on grounds that they could not otherwise control an armed Muslim mob. The Srikrishna Commission had junked this claim and found that the firing was unprovoked, but the panel’s report was rejected in 1998 by the then Shiv Sena-BJP Government in 1998. Instead, a Special Task Force reinvestigated the case and gave a clean chit to the police.
On Thursday, a division bench of Justice F I Rebello and Justice R S Mohite held that the CBI should register the case and investigate it without the influence of the Srikrishna Commission report. The state has been directed to hand over the complaint and other required documents to the agency.
The Hari Masjid firing of 1992-93 will be investigated again. Fifteen years after police bullets killed seven people at the mosque in Wadala, the Bombay High Court has directed the CBI to investigate the incident and file a report within six months.
The police had justified the firing on grounds that they could not otherwise control an armed Muslim mob. The Srikrishna Commission had junked this claim and found that the firing was unprovoked, but the panel’s report was rejected in 1998 by the then Shiv Sena-BJP Government in 1998. Instead, a Special Task Force reinvestigated the case and gave a clean chit to the police.
On Thursday, a division bench of Justice F I Rebello and Justice R S Mohite held that the CBI should register the case and investigate it without the influence of the Srikrishna Commission report. The state has been directed to hand over the complaint and other required documents to the agency.
The court had earlier observed that this is a case that “affects the very soul of India” and held that the “matter should be investigated for the rule of law to survive”. The court had slammed the state for the Special Task Force’s one-sided investigation and the central government for its reluctance to hand over the case to the CBI.
The firing had taken place at the height of the 1992-93 communal riots. Farooq Mapkar, who was chargesheeted for murder and rioting, had urged the court to initiate action against then police sub-inspector Nikhil Kapse, whom the Srikrishna Commission report held “guilty of unjustified firing” and “inhuman and brutal behaviour”.
Additional Solicitor General Rajendra Raghuvanshi had submitted that as per the manual the CBI can take over the investigation even in the absence of an FIR. Public prosecutor Satish Borulkar echoed the same arguments and stated that the CBI can investigate the case based on the complaint filed by Farooq Mapkar in 2006.
Raghuvanshi on Thursday said that as per the manual the CBI can enquire first and then register the offence. The court, however, asked the CBI to register the offence first.
The firing had taken place at the height of the 1992-93 communal riots. Farooq Mapkar, who was chargesheeted for murder and rioting, had urged the court to initiate action against then police sub-inspector Nikhil Kapse, whom the Srikrishna Commission report held “guilty of unjustified firing” and “inhuman and brutal behaviour”.
Additional Solicitor General Rajendra Raghuvanshi had submitted that as per the manual the CBI can take over the investigation even in the absence of an FIR. Public prosecutor Satish Borulkar echoed the same arguments and stated that the CBI can investigate the case based on the complaint filed by Farooq Mapkar in 2006.
Raghuvanshi on Thursday said that as per the manual the CBI can enquire first and then register the offence. The court, however, asked the CBI to register the offence first.
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