The Hindu : NHRC directive to Punjab Govt.

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Friday, May 09, 2003

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NHRC directive to Punjab Govt.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY. 8. The National Human Rights Commission today gave the Punjab Government 10 weeks to file its responses in cases relating to people's disappearances and illegal cremations by police.

The case has been before the NHRC since January 1997 following a 1996 direction of the Supreme Court empowering it to deal with the issue.

The petitioners, the Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab, had sought a comprehensive inquiry into the fate of thousands of persons who had "disappeared" in the State.

At the second hearing in as many years, the NHRC chairperson, Justice A.S. Anand, brushed aside the Government's claim that it needed five more months to inspect and translate the records in CBI custody. He told the Government counsel, R.S. Suri, that the State had the resources to work at a faster pace.

After the NHRC took over the issue, the CBI investigated the disappearance of a human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra, and found that Mr. Khalra had been abducted by the Punjab police under the directions of the then Senior Superintendent of Police, Tarn Taran, Ajit Singh Sandhu. Armed with this report, the petitioners approached the Supreme Court.

The CBI report, according to the Supreme Court's order of December 1996, showed a "flagrant violation of human rights on a mass scale" in Punjab.

The report said that 585 bodies had been positively identified, 274 partially identified and 1,238 unidentified.

Last year, the Government was asked to file its responses in relation to the identified bodies. It has, so far, filed 217 affidavits.

The CIIP has in the intervening years identified 228 of the unidentified and partially identified bodies.

Mr. Justice Anand directed them to submit the names of these persons in a week. He also told the Government to file responses in relation to these names.

The commission could not comment on an incomplete set of responses, Mr. Justice Anand said, as this would give the Government the opportunity to alter their future submissions which would not serve the cause of justice.

The petitioners also submitted an application to the commission asking that it issue notices to the families of those who "disappeared" so that it may hear their version.

They said their request for a copy of the CBI report was denied to them on the ground that the investigation was underway. The agency was asked to file its response to this.

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NHRC directive to Punjab Govt.