The magisterial inquiry into police firing to quell violent mob during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in Mangaluru on December 19, 2019, found no fault in police action, the State Government informed the High Court of Karnataka on Friday.
The submissions in this regard was made before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum during the hearing on a PIL petition seeking court’s direction to the government to hold a judicial inquiry and entrust the investigation into police firing to an independent agency. Two persons had died in the firing.
The report of the magisterial inquiry, conducted by then Deputy Commissioner of Udupi district, was submitted to the High Court in a sealed cover in July this year, and the government has now accepted the inquiry report, Additional Advocate-General Dhyan Chinnappa told the Bench.
The report says nothing was wrong with the action taken by the police, and no one was found guilty in the magisterial inquiry, and the Criminal Investigation Department had conducted separate probe based on the FIRs registered in connection with the violence, the police firing and other cases connected to the violence that occurred during the protest, the AAG clarified to the Bench.
However, counsel for the petitioners claimed that the government had not taken action as per the law on several complaints lodged against the firing while pointing out that the petitioners were not provided with details of the outcome of either the magisterial inquiry report or other information.
The Bench adjourned further hearing till November 30 while directing the government to file detailed statement on actions taken based on the complaints lodged against the police and other directions given by the court earlier.
