31 July 2003
NHRC
MOVES APEX COURT TO SHIFT GODHRA, BEST BAKERY AND 3 OTHER CASES
OUTSIDE GUJARAT
From Jal Khambata
NEW
DELHI: In an extraordinary intervention in the cases relating to
Gujarat's communal carnage of 2002, the National Human Rights
Commission on Thursday moved the Supreme Court to set aside the Best
Bakery judgment, and order reinvestigation of the case by an
independent agency and its retrial in any other state by a competent
court.
It also prayed the Apex Court to enhance efficacy of
the criminal justice delivery system by laying down, under the powers
granted to it under Article 142 of the Constitution, "to lay
down guidelines and directions in relation to protection of witnesses
and victims of crime in criminal trials which can be adhered to both
by the prosecuting and law enforcement agencies as well as the
subordinate judiciary."
The NHRC has sought to bring out
in its petition to the Supreme Court that there was no fair trial in
the Best Bakery case as all the accused charged with the heinous
crime of charring to death 12 persons got scot free and the crime
remained unpunished. It has made out a case that the witnesses could
not tell the truth to the trial court for want of any protection from
the authorities or the court.
Through a separate application
filed under Section 406 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the NHRC also
urged the Supreme Court to transfer out four other serious cases for
their trial outside Gujarat. These cases include one relating to the
Godhra train burning of February 28 that triggered the riots.
The
other three most heinous cases picked up by the NHRC for persuading
the Apex Court for trial outside Gujarat are: The Chamanpura
(Gulburga society) incident in which a former Congress MP was among
those killed, Naroda Patiya incident and the Sadarpura case in
Mehsana district.
In its Special Leave Petition (SLP) moved
under Article 136, the NHRC's prayer is to set aside the impugned
judgment of the trial court of Vadodara in the Best Bakery case and
"issue directions for further investigations of the case by an
independent agency and retrial of the case in a competent court
located outside the State of Gujarat."
The SLP states
that the NHRC was filing the petition after considering the report of
its own 3-member team that was sent to Vadodara early this month to
examine the case after the trial court had acquitted all 21 accused
charged with urning to death 12 persons during the communal frenzy in
the city on March 1 last year.
The NHRC has stated that it was
"deeply concerned about the damage to the credibility of the
criminal justice delivery system and negation of human rights of
victims" by the impugned judgment which should be set aside to
pave way for a fresh trial of the case.
The NHRC has,
inter-alia, contended in the SLP that
-- The concept of fair
trial is a constitutional 'imperative and is explicitly recognized as
such in the specific provisions of the Constitution including
Articles 14, 19, 21, 22 and 39A of the Constitution as well as the
various provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973
(Cr.P.C).
-- The right to fair trial is also explicitly
recognized as a human right in terms of Article 14 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which
has been ratified by India and which now forms part of the statutory
legal regime explicitly recognized as such under Section 2(1)(d) of
the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
-- Violation of a
right to fair trial is not only a violation of fundamental right
under our Constitution but also violative of the internationally
recognized human rights as spelt out in the ICCPR to which India is a
party.
-- Whenever a criminal goes unpunished, it is the
society at large which suffers because the victims become demoralized
and criminals encouraged. It therefore, becomes duty of the Court to
use all its powers to unearth the truth and render justice so that
the crime is punished.
The SLP prays for the Supreme Court to
lay down guidelines and directions for protection of victims and
witnesses in the criminal trials "in the interest of justice"
and "to enhance the efficacy of the criminal justice delivery
system."
Since the Supreme Court frowns at advance
publicity given to petitions before they come up for hearing, the
NHRC has taken care to formulate the press release about the filing
of the SLP on Thursday with the stand that it would like to state the
position "in response to repeated requests from representatives
of the print and electronic media regarding the action being taken by
the Commission in the Best Bakery case.
Meanwhile, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi has ordered an inquiry into a Media report
alleging the role of one of its councillors in the Best Bakery murder
case.
"If after investigation the charge is proved, we
will definitely take action against him," Congress spokesman S
Jaipal Reddy said at the daily Press briefing.
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