Taking a grim view of the recurrence of violence in Muzaffarnagar,the Supreme Court Thursday cautioned the Uttar Pradesh government over fresh killings of four people,saying the court may consider an independent probe if the government failed to contain the flare up. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam asked the state government to explain the violence,noting it is an area of concern for us. Are you aware that four persons died due to the clash, the Bench,also comprising Justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Ranjan Gogoi,asked the counsel for UP Ravi P Mehrotra. The counsel responded that as per his instructions,the incident was not communal in nature and that the violence occurred due to personal enmity. However,the court said: We are taking it very seriously. So far,we have been going by the reports of the Attorney General and the state government. If we have any doubt on security and relief measures in the camps,we may have to consider sending independent persons for inquiry. The court has now posted the matter for November 21. During the hearing,the court also stayed the proceedings before the Allahabad High Court on six petitions by police personnel,who have challenged their transfer orders. These policemen were deployed in the violence-affected areas at the relevant time. The government had recently disclosed before the court that till October 6,46 Muslims and 16 Hindus were killed in the communal clashes in Muzzafarnagar and adjoining districts. Refuting the accusation of communal bias for vote bank politics,the state government also revealed that although majority of communal incidents took place on September 7 and 8,a total of 128 such incidents had,in fact,occurred between August 27 and September 16. The court is monitoring the situation as a bunch of PILs sought its intervention to ensure safety and rehabilitation of the riot victims,besides an independent probe.
