29, May 2008

Tabular Presentation by Teesta Setalvad, Secretary  Citizens for Justice and Peace before the Special Investigation Team  (SIT) appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court through its Order dated 26.3.2008 following Part I, II and III Statements submitted at Gandhinagar on May 9, 2008.

This detailed and substantiated presentation flags several crucial issues that needed to be looked at during the further investigation by the SIT:

• Violations of Section 154 of the CrPC in the manner in which the first FIR was registered in the Gulberg Case
• Investigations into why the Fire Brigade had not reached the Gulberg Society the entire day on 28.2.2002 and until late the next day?
• Defects in the first three charge sheets filed by the Crime Branch and pinning of responsibility on officers responsible for this lapse
• Analysis of the Inquest Panchnamas of the Burned Bodies and Investigation into the deliberate non-recovery of the burned/burning bodies
• Investigations into how and who protected powerful accused
• Investigations into the Applications made by the Witness Survivors under Section 173(8) of the CRPC dated 25.11.2002, 16.4.2003, 18.7.2003 and 4.11.2003 before the Supreme Court of India stayed the trials on 23.11.2003
• Swift Bail sought by accused and not opposed by PPs and police
• Investigation into the deliberate efforts to subvert the trial by appointment of Public Prosectors with allegiences to the political dispensation: Chetan Shah was removed as PP in 2003 after an application to the local Court by Foroz Gulzar Pathan. Thereafter one VP Atre his junior was appointed and then, while the Supreme Court was hearing the matter one Vinod Gajjar who had earlier been appearing for accused in the Gulberg case was appointed as PP by the state!
• Proper and thorough investigation(s) into Tehelka’s Operation Kalank which tapes had been authenticated by the CBI following an order by the NHRC. This sting operation accused Mangilal Jain stating that PI Erda had stated that the mob had three hours to do what it wished; He says he was in the mob; he names Atul Vaid and Bharat Teli (until then not arrested)  and Meghsingh also. Madan Chawal describes how Ahsan Jaffri was butchered bit by bit. Ashish Khetan deposed in the trial as PW 418.
• Investigations into the Phone Call records that show a Policeman-Politician Nexus and a specific look at the Political interference into the Investigations

Further details can be found here:

Annexure 1 Tabular Presentation by Teesta Setalvad to SIT: Gulberg Statement Panchnamas

The first thing to be noted is that several people died in the incident that occurred in Gulberg society and several died inside the house of Ahsan Jaffery. This was part of the initial allegations and was confirmed by the police.

The annexure contains a list of the detailed inquest panchnamas. It shows that 38 panchnamas were created for a total of 38 dead bodies. However, several discrepancies emerge. The first was that according to the details of the panchnamas, the police obtained 32 dead bodies the day after the incident but many were not found. Despite knowing that bodies were missing (Panchnamas), no detailed examination inside the house of Shri Ahsan Jaffri was made.

Shockingly, as is reveled from a perusal of the panchnamas themselves, the Police have kept a time duration of five minutes between all the panchnamas carried out by the police and it has also been recorded that all panchnamas were completed within 20 minutes. Thus it clearly seems that police has prepared all panchnamas afterwards (post facto) or in fact have fabricated panchnamas on their own.

Thus, if police had, in fact conducted a systematic and proper investigation within the house of Shri Jaffery immediately after, that is on day after the incident, based on the statements of witnesses, there was a reasonable possibility of finding all dead bodies in a reasonably good condition. But the police have intentionally not made any such attempt to search for the dead bodies of the people killed. Therefore it seems that they have not only committed the crime of ensuring through negligence an incomplete investigation, but worse, they have permitted the destruction of, or causedthe destruction of evidence with an intention to help the accused intentionally, and have committed such act by which benefit may cause to the accused.

Further details can be found here

Annexure 7 to Tabular Presentation by Teesta Setalvad to SIT

Points from former CP Ahmedabad, presently DGP Gujarat, PC Pande’s Deposition before the Nanavati Shah (now Nanavati Akshay Mehta) commission.

In a subsequent deposition to the Nanavati-Shah Commission, Joint CP(Ahmedabad) M.K Tandon(in charge of areas which oversaw the two worst massacres) told the Nanavati-Shah commission that he heard about the attack on Gulberg Society at 2pm on February 28th. However, records of Tandon’s official cell phone reveal that between 11.34 a.m. and 12.09 p.m., he was in the Meghaninagar area (where Gulberg Society is). From Meghaninagar, records show, he called up the DCP in charge of the area and the CP, PC Pandey. (According to police records, violence at Gulberg Society started at 10.30 a.m. and went on till 7 p.m.)
Further details can be found here

Credit: Sabrangindia https://sabrangindia.in/indepth/gulberg-massacre-tortuous-journey-justice?page=2