31, May 2011

May 31, 2011

Victim
Survivors and CJP welcome Gulberg Trial Court’s
Order dtd 31.5.2011

Victim Survivors, Eye
Witnesses and the Citizens for Justice and Peace welcome the
decision of the Trial Court hearing the Gulberg Massacre Case
putting in abeyance any decision on arraigning then Commissioner
of Police PC Pande, then Joint Commissioner of Police, MK Tandon,
then DCP Zone IV, PB Gondia and ACP Chudasama as accused in the
Gulberg massacre case despite every effort by the Special
Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Dr raghavan opposing the
application made by witness victim survivors.

On October 26, 2010, the SIT had reported to the Supreme Court
of India that material of criminal culpability at least against
Tandon and Gondia was being investigated. Media Reports on the SIT’s
report in the Zakia Ahsan Jafri and CJP SLP 1088/2008 found clear
criminal culpability of both these officers in neglgecting to
protect the lives of both the Gulberg Society and Naroda Patiya
Massacres. However inexplicably at the Trial Court level the SIT
argued vehemently against arraigning these criminally culpable
policemen as accused. On May 5, 2011 the Supreme Court has entrusted
the Amicus Curaie Shri Raju Ramachandran the task of evaluating all
the evidence indepedent of the SIT. In the midst of this process,
victim survivors argued, why was SIT in a hurry to ensure that these
criminally culpable policemen were not arraigned as accused ?

Advocate for the Victims and Survivpors Shri SM Vohra had placed
detailed documentary evidence before the Trial Court showing how
Tandon and Gondia had run in the opposite direction to their Zone fo
Responsibility. The same material has also been placed by the CJP
before the Nananvati Commission and the Supreme Court of India on
August 10, 2010.

The Order Passed by
the Trial Court today.

Teesta Setalvad
Secretary