PP flays Gujarat

Censure from the Supreme Court does not seem to have made a difference to the Gujarat government. Three days after he was appointed public p...

Censure from the Supreme Court does not seem to have made a difference to the Gujarat government. Three days after he was appointed public prosecutor by the SC in the Best Bakery retrial, P.R. Vakil today said the Gujarat government has not established contact with him.

In his first appearance as special public prosecutor, Vakil also questioned the Gujarat police8217;s commitment to arrest the seven accused who are still absconding. 8216;8216;Just by merely going to their homes and saying the accused are not there does not make them absconding,8217;8217; he said. Judge A.P. Thipsay, who drew attention to the charges against the accused, said he was inclined to reframe them. The judge had expressed a similar opinion on June 21. 8216;8216;The charges list only what the police claim, but here 8212; as in Maharashtra 8212; we are more specific,8217;8217; he had said.

Vakil told the court he couldn8217;t begin his arguments as he had no papers. 8216;8216;The Gujarat government knew I was scheduled to appear, and yet there has been no communication from their side,8217;8217; Vakil said. 8216;8216;I cannot start my arguments today as I have no papers.8217;8217;

Vakil also pulled up the Gujarat police over their efforts to arrest those absconding. A Gujarat police official, H.G. Baria, who was present in court today, said the state was trying to trace them.

Vakil said the absconders may feel that if they are able to escape custody long enough, the trial would commence and they would be tried separately, which may ease the pressure on them. 8216;8216;There are ways of finding their whereabouts. These are men with families. Let there be proper interrogation of the families without being harsh,8217;8217; he said. Vakil urged the court to issue a direction to the Gujarat police to take the help of the electronic media to display photographs of the absconding accused. 8216;8216;I cannot do that, you need to talk to your officers directly,8217;8217; Thipsay said.

In another development, arrest warrants issued to the Mumbai police were extended. The Gujarat police already have arrest warrants issued by the Vadodara Sessions Court.