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Journalism of Courage
The National Human Rights Commission has severely indicted Vadodara sessions judge H U Mahida for what it calls 8216;8216;miscarriage of justice8217;8217; in the Best Bakery 8216;8216;farce.8217;8217; It has also not spared the Modi government citing the principle that 8216;8216;those against whom allegations are made should not themselves be entrusted with the investigation.8217;8217;
Besides listing Mahida8217;s errors of omission and commission, the NHRC8217;s special leave petition8212;a copy of which is with The Indian Express8212; strongly criticises the state government for disregarding all the key NHRC recommendations made since the riots.
The NHRC8217;s indictment of the judge8212;and the state government8212;is contained in its account of how the Best Bakery case collapsed. The SLP8217;s key points:
8226; As one witness after the other, including the principal eyewitnesses, turned hostile, the judge 8216;8216;made no effort to ascertain why this was happening.8217;8217;
8226; Even the state didn8217;t take this seriously. In fact, 8216;8216;the cross-examination of the hostile witnesses was most perfunctory.8217;8217;
For example, when Zaheera Sheikh turned hostile, the prosecution failed to confront her with her signed complaint which named 10 of the accused persons. Much less was she 8216;8216;asked to explain under what circumstances8217;8217; she had changed her testimony.
8226; Since 37 witnesses turned hostile, 8216;8216;it was apparent that either the investigation8230;had been wholly unsatisfactory or that all of them had been won over by the accused.8217;8217;
8226; A detailed examination of the investigating officer IO would have revealed what went wrong. Instead, the IO8217;s deposition on June 21, 2003 ended so quickly that the court had enough time the same day to record the statements of all the 21 accused as well as start hearing the final arguments. 8216;8216;This itself is a clear indication that the trial in the Best Bakery case had already been reduced to a farce.8217;8217;
8226; Criticising Mahida for his statement that his was 8216;8216;only a court of evidence8217;8217; and not 8216;8216;a court of justice,8217;8217; the NHRC said that seeing so many hostile witnesses, he could have held the proceedings in camera to instil confidence. Instead, 8216;8216;no such move was made at any point.8217;8217;
8226; Though Mahida said in his judgment that the case was riddled with 8216;8216;bogus accused8217;8217; and 8216;8216;bogus witnesses,8217;8217; he never explored the option of further investigation to 8216;8216;uphold the cause of justice.8217;8217; Failure to do so, the SLP says, 8216;8216;vitiated the whole trial.8217;8217;
The NHRC argues that its request for transferring the 8216;8216;serious8217;8217; riot cases out of Gujarat is not only due to the collapse of the Best Bakery case but also because of Zaheera Sheikh8217;s disclosure on July 11 of the names of the those who allegedly threatened her.
Though the SLP does not mention any names8212;Zaheera had accused BJP MLA Madhu Shrivastav and his cousin, a Congress councillor8212;the NHRC makes a cryptic reference to this more than once.
8216;8216;She named the persons who had threatened her as well as her mother,8217;8217; the SLP says, in what clearly seems to be a hint that influential persons exerted 8216;8216;undue pressure8217;8217; on Zaheera.
From this, the NHRC inferred that 8216;8216;it is reasonable to expect that the other prosecution witnesses in the pending trials would also be facing similar situation of being unable to depose fairly and fearlessly before the court.8217;8217;
In a stinging indictment of the Narendra Modi Government, the NHRC said: 8216;8216;The record of the Best Bakery case is testimony to the complete breakdown of the criminal justice system resulting in a gross miscarriage of justice. It also exposed the hollowness of the claims of the state of Gujarat that the conduct of the above criminal trials in a fair manner would be ensured by the state machinery.8217;8217;
The NHRC suggested last year that at least five critical cases be entrusted to the CBI but the Modi Government declined to do so saying that the reports of 8216;8216;extraneous pressures8217;8217; on the local police were based on 8216;8216;hostile propaganda8217;8217; or 8216;8216;unsubstantiated information.8217;8217;
Citing the principle that 8216;8216;those against whom allegations are made should not themselves be entrusted with the investigation,8217;8217; the NHRC said in the five cases listed by it 8216;8216;the allegations of inaction or complicity by the elements of the state apparatus were grave and severely damaging to its credibility and integrity.8217;8217;
The NHRC does not spare even the Centre. Recalling a Rajya Sabha resolution of May 2002 urging the Centre to intervene in Gujarat under Article 355 of the Constitution, the NHRC said that the Centre8217;s response in regard to the shortlisted cases should have gone beyond 8216;8216;a mere invocation of the existing rules8217;8217; on when the CBI can take up a case.
