CITIZENS FOR JUSTICE Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has been filed basically challenging the appointment and continuation of respondent No. 3 Shri P.C. Pandey to the post of Director General of Police, State of Gujarat. The other prayer in the Writ Petition is to direct respondent No. 1 - State of Gujarat to take disciplinary action including prosecuting respondent No. 3 for having failed in his duties during the Gujarat carnage of 2002.

(2.) Notice was issued by this Court on 11.5.2006 to the respondents, whereupon, the State of Gujarat has come up with a Counter Affidavit, denying most of the contentions raised in the Writ Petition. This Writ Petition was filed on 1.5.2006 and notice thereof was issued on 11.5.2006 and ever since then, number of interim orders in nature of directions came to be passed.

(3.) Shortly stated, the petitioner claiming itself to be an organization, which was started as a response to the alleged carnage which took place in Gujarat from 27.2.2002 onwards with the main objective to bridge the gap between the various religious communities, as also to ensure that justice is done to those who are the victims of communalism. It is claimed that it had set up a Citizens Tribunal to go into the causes and extent of communal violence in Gujarat headed by two retired Hon'ble Judges of this Court. The petitioner has filed the Report of the said Tribunal, which published in two volumes. The other contentions which are raised are that the respondent No. 3 Shri P.C. Pandey was the Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad during the period when the communal disturbances rocked the State of Gujarat. It is claimed that more than 700 persons died and number of irregularities were committed by Shri Pandey such as not supplying the reinforcements and serious derelictions of his duties. Number of other allegations have been made that Shri Pandey was sent on deputation to CBI, which appointment was challenged before this Court by the petitioner by filing Writ Petition (C) No. 147 of 2004, wherein, the first respondent-State of Gujarat had given an undertaking that he would not handle any cases relating to Gujarat riots of 2002. He was accordingly not allowed to handle those cases. It has also come in the allegations that on account of the directions issued by this Court, about 2000 cases which were hastily closed by the then Gujarat Government, were directed to be re-opened and a fresh scrutiny into those cases was also ordered. It was expressed that if Shri Pandey continued in the highest post of Director General of Police, those cases would be adversely affected and the guilty would be shielded and that would be patent denial of justice.