A special justice

There are two things special about the two special courts set up in Mumbai exclusively for the 8217;92-8217;93 riot cases, ostensibly...

There are two things special about the two special courts set up in Mumbai exclusively for the 8217;92-8217;93 riot cases, ostensibly a step towards implementing the Srikrishna Commission Report. One, neither the magistrates nor the public prosecutors PPs have been given a copy of the Commission8217;s Report. No special PPs have been appointed, nor do the existing ones get any special salary, given the sensitive nature of their work.

Two, very few of the cases being tried here since the last three months find a mention in the Report. The selection of cases assigned to these fast track courts is strange indeed. Many have been registered against 8216;unknown persons8217;, and involve offences such as taking out processions, shouting slogans, throwing stones, bricks and soda water bottles the three always seem to go together!, 8216;rioting8217; and damaging property. The mobs dispersed after we lathi-charged/fired, is the testimony of most policemen. Wonder what all the fuss about the 8217;92-8217;93 riots was about!

Only a few cases here find a mention in the Commission Report, but these are being treated no differently from the others 8212; neither has the PP been briefed about them, nor the investigating officer, nor the policemen currently assigned to follow them up. The only people who know their significance are the lawyers defending the Sena accused. The rest of the accused have to rely on lawyers who practice here anyway, for whom the Srikrishna Commission Report is only a headline.

So whether the accused are top Shiv Sena leaders or other lower party functionaries who8217;d allegedly been allowed by the police to do whatever they wanted in the riots; whether the case has been re-opened after a cover-up so blatant that the Commission has commented on it; the PPs get to read the tattered case papers just minutes before the case is called out 8212; if at all the original papers are provided to them!

With no knowledge whatsoever about the Commission8217;s comments on the lapses 8212; deliberate or just routine 8212; in the investigation of these cases, they rely on whatever8217;s in them. Forget about consultations with IOs 8212; many of the IOs, long retired, appear in court only after repeated summons, while for other key police witnesses, arrest warrants have had to be issued. One must be grateful they are not pronounced 8216;Not Traceable8217; as are many independent witnesses, mostly victims.

Victims have run away to safer ghettos, say policemen who see no reason to go out of their way to trace either them or the 8216;absconding accused8217;. There8217;s no one pressurising them to do so anyway 8212; except the magistrates.

Intolerant of lazy lawyers who demand long dates and lazier policemen who won8217;t file reports in time, protective of witnesses who are obviously no match for the tactics of criminal defence lawyers, having to dispense justice after 15 years without having been provided even basic infrastructure, magistrates Sharma and Bapat-Sarkar are perhaps the only really special features of the special courts.

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The writer, a freelance journalist, has covered the 8217;92-8217;93 Mumbai riots jyoti.punwanigmail.com