Taking suo motu cognizance of The Indian Express report, the National Human Rights Commission acting chairperson Justice Cyriac Joseph on Wednesday issued notices to five state governments — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi — calling for a detailed factual report in the cases pertaining to Maulana Naseeruddin and his family in Hyderabad. On May 4, The Indian Express had reported how Naseeruddin and his three sons were arrested and acquitted in the last ten years. “The facts that emerged from the news report are indeed disturbing and compel the commission to take suo motu cognizance,’’ Justice Joseph observed. [related-post] “If there is any element of truth in the insinuations made against the police machinery, it is a shocking and sorry state of affairs and would amount to gross violation of human rights of the victims which cannot be overlooked,” he said. It was Justice Joseph’s first day as the acting chairperson of the NHRC. Naseeruddin was acquitted and released after spending five years in a Gujarat jail, and his sons Maqeemuddin Yasir and Baleeguddin Jabir were acquitted and released after spending over three years in a jail in Madhya Pradesh. However, his youngest son, Raziyuddin Nasir, who was among the 17 suspected SIMI members acquitted by a Hubli court recently, is still in Sabarmati jail, where he is facing charges for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Ahmedabad blasts case.
