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Journalism of Courage
It should be seen as a scandal that the Nanavati commission has been given its 21st extension.
The Nanavati commission inquiring into the Godhra incident of February 2002 and the riots that ravaged Gujarat in the following days has been given yet another extension,its 21st. The commission is now scheduled to submit its report on June 30 this year that is,if it should break from form and actually deliver. It would not be controversial to say that if it does in fact press for an extension,there will be no surprise,and that in a nutshell is the scandal of panels formed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act.
It behoves neither the judiciary,as the supplier of retired judges,to head such commissions,nor the executive to be assailed by suspicions that the exercise is one of evasion by the executive of the burning issue and of self-serving perpetuation by the judge of the spoils of the task. It may well be that certain inquiries take time. But it would enable a healthier culture of public debate and inquiry if commissions submitted what they gather in the time frame allotted and let that be the grounds on which to seek an extension or recommend an ancillary probe.
