Dismissal of the plea to conduct a retrial in the Kambalapalli Dalit carnage case by the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday has caused dismay among those working for the welfare of Dalits.
Seven Dalits, including a family of four, were burnt to death at Kambalapalli in Chintamani taluk in the then undivided Kolar district on March 11, 2000. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) stuck to their stand that a retrial was necessary to provide justice to the oppressed class.
‘Judgement fraud’Speaking to The Hindu over phone from Bagepalli, the former MLA and CPI(M) State Committee Secretary G.V. Sriram Reddy alleged that the judgement by the sessions court itself was fraud. It has now been repeated by the High Court, he said. “Our party had been consistently demanding that the State government should come forward seeking a retrial in the case,” he said.
Mr. Reddy recalled that the CPI(M) had conducted a jatha from Chintamani to Bangalore in support of their demand. The courts take into account technical aspects instead of reality, he alleged.
While stating that weakness on part of successive State governments had resulted in not delivering justice for the Dalits, the former State convener of DSS N. Venkatesh said he had great trust in the Siddaramaiah-led government in this regard.
Mr. Venkatesh, who was actively involved in the legal battle, remarked that the court in Karnataka had failed to safeguard the interests of Dalits. “The High Court worked in favour of the upper caste Hindus,” he alleged.
The Dalits would have got justice if a judicial inquiry or a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation was conducted, Mr. Venkatesh felt.
