NEW DELHI: Counsel for the voluntary organization, Citizen’s Justice Committee on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that the Jain Bannerji Committee was empowered to direct the police to record fresh first information reports regarding the November 1984 riots.
The Counsel, S.C. Malik, said it was for the trial court and not the High Court to question the authority of the committee.
The counsel said 1.331 cases of the people killed during the riots following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, were yet to be registered. Malik argued that the Lt Governor had constituted the JainBannerji Committee “while being conscious of this fact.”
Malik brought to the notice of the court that in one case the Jain Banneyji Committee had recommended reopening a case of multiple murders in Zakhir (West DeIhi) in which the accused had been acquitted by the authorities but the Lt Governor had turned down this request.
The court directed the Delhi Administration to clarify this matter at the next hearing on August 31.
At one stage of the arguments Justice Kirpal expressed concern that since 1947 a number of riots had taken place but only in rare cases were the guilty brought to book. The judge described it as “very unfortunate” and asked whether it was due to the lack to will of the administration to punish the guilty or there was “some other consideration.”
The counsel replied that the rioters had been going unpunished because of the lack of will on the part of the administration.
The counsel argued that the powers of the JainBannerji Committee therefore ought not to be restricted to probing into the police records since FIRs cannot be refused at the threshold only because there is delay in recording them,” he said.
Malik said the committee was empowered to invite fresh affidavits on complaints of no registration of the FIRs.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 15, 1989
