The Commission of Inquiry constituted to probe the causes and circumstances leading to violence during and after the jallikattu agitations on January 23 has been stumped, thanks to a lack of response from the public, its head, Justice S. Rajeswaran, has said. He urged the affected public, through mediapersons on Wednesday, to come forward with sworn affidavits explaining their case to the Commission.
128 responses
Mr. Rajeswaran said: “We got 128 responses from Chennai alone. No affidavit has been filed from Madurai, Salem and Coimbatore. In Chennai, we visited eight places and met hundreds of people. However, we received only 14 applications from the people affected, 17 from the public in favour of the police and 93 from police personnel. Four more applications were received from Fire and Rescue Services personnel.”
The Commission extended the deadline until April 31 for submission of affidavits either in person or through post.
Appealing to aggrieved persons to come forward with sworn affidavits, Mr. Rajeswaran said, “We would like to give one more opportunity to the public. They may not have been aware of the Commission. This is a request to people to come forward with their complaints without any fear,” he said.
Responding to a question on a TV footage on police personnel indulging in violence, Mr. Rajeswaran said summons are going to be sent to print and electronic media to come forward to submit relevant footage (edited and unedited versions) for examination.
The Commission will ascertain whether appropriate force was used as warranted by the circumstances and whether there were any excesses on the part of police officers, and if so, suggest the action to be taken and recommend suitable measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, he said.
