Special Correspondent
I am not happy with implementation of Srikrishna report: Deshmukh
NEW DELHI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday said the State Government has not closed any case against persons mentioned in the report of the Justice Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry.
“I am personally not happy with the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report. One should not be complacent, we need to do more and the State Government is conducting an exercise to implement [the report]. The Congress president asked me to take action needed to implement whatever is left,” said Mr. Deskhmukh told presspersons here. He had come here to explain the status of the implementation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
The Chief Minister said that of the 2,270 cases registered during the 1993 Mumbai riots, several cases were held up due to lack of evidence, 650 cases were done and 350 pending.
He said a public interest litigation was pending in the Supreme Court. Recently, he said, the apex court had asked the litigants to file a common affidavit on cases in which no action had been taken and gave them six weeks to file the document.
“We have not closed any of the cases.” He said that an Additional Commissioner of Police had been asked to look into them and the Government was also seeking legal opinion in cases where an appeal needs to be filed.
During his meeting with Ms. Gandhi, the Chief Minister said she directed him to fill the vacancies in boards and corporations.
Mr. Deshmukh said he was confident of completing the exercise, including carrying out expansion of his Council of Ministers, by the end of this month.
“Unaware of document”
Asked for his reaction about a report that the party high command was unhappy with his style of functioning and that general secretary in-charge Margaret Alva had given a report, the Chief Minister said he was unaware of any such document.
He denied reports that he had alienated every section of the party and the Nationalist Congress Party and the Shiv Sena were coming closer.
