K.R. Kaushik admits faux pas

Realising that chargesheets filed by the Ahmedabad city crime branch in the Naroda Patiya and Gulbarg Society cases, the two most gruesome riot incidents in which 132 persons died, have some serious lacunae, the city police commissioner has admitted that additional information would be appended and fresh chargesheets would be filed.

Ahmedabad Police Commissioner K.R. Kaushik on Thursday said that care would be taken to ensure that cases are consolidated with new information and investigations are carried out efficiently. Mr. Kaushik’s statement is perhaps the first one from a senior police official that attests wide gaps in the chargesheets following severe criticism by security advisor to the Chief Minister K.P.S. Gill. Mr. Gill had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with build up of the chargesheets.

In fact, city crime branch headed by Joint Commissioner of police P.P. Pande had gone on the defensive ever since Mr. Gill said, "If any court of law believes this story then it would be the biggest travesty of justice." DCP (crime) D.G. Vanzara defended the bad job done claiming that the authorities were hard pressed for time since chargesheets had to be filed within the stipulated 90 days period or the accused would have gone scot-free. Investigations are still being carried out and crime branch has a lot of paper work to do before the charges are framed, which it will do without fear or favour, he claimed.

But the damage is already done with the first batch of chargesheets projecting the mob violence post Godhra as "a reaction to Muslim provocation." According to the chargesheet in the Gulbarg Society case, it was Eshan Jafri’s firing, which incensed the mob that went on to kill 44 persons, including Mr. Jafri. Naroda Patiya chargesheet says a Muslim truck driver, who apparently drove through a protesting group killing one, provoked the mob to set ablaze 88 persons.

Though Mr. Pande gave an impression that Mr. Kaushik was aware of the chargesheets, Mr. Kaushik refuted it by saying that though he was aware that the chargesheets were being filed he had not actually read the chargesheets.

One senior police officer said it was impossible for the commissioner to read over 1,500 pages of the chargesheets. Only an investigating officer is well-versed with every detail of the chargesheet, he added. One of the senior most police officer in the IPS cadre in Gujarat said that mitigating circumstances are never included in the chargesheets. The prosecuting agency cannot give anybody the chance to allow the accused to make a case for self-defense. It is just not done, no officer worth his cap can do such a thing, he said.

Several other senior police officers are appalled with the way the chargesheets have been phrased with one additional commissioner of police going so far as to say that it was "criminal" to file such a chargesheet. Only time will tell whether the crime branch lives up to its promise of investigation without "fear or favour."

Republished from The Asian Age