STATE OF CHHATTISGARH Vs. SPECIAL JUDICIAL ENQUIRY COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Alleged abrupt closure of the proceedings of the Special Judicial Enquiry Commission constituted for enquiry of 'Jhiram Ghati incident' (for short 'the Commission') occurred on 25.05.2013 which commenced on 06.07.2013 and finalised after six years as per Annexure P/1 order dated 11.10.2019 was questioned by the State/Appellant in Writ Petition (C) No.4296 of 2019, contending that the opportunity denied to examine more witnesses is not correct and hence to be set aside. The prayer was declined by the learned Single Judge referring to the sequence of events and holding that the process and procedure pursued by the Commission was quite in order and no haste was shown at any point of time, besides referring to the scope of such enquiry and the outcome. This, in turn is under challenge in this appeal preferred by the State.

(2.) A brief history as to the factual context will be useful to appreciate the challenge raised by the State/Appellant as put forth by the learned Advocate General. In connection with the Lok Sabha Elections, 2014 political campaigning was going on. A 'Parivartan Yatra' was being conducted by the State Congress Committee with involvement of prominent leaders as part of the said campaigning exercise. On 25.05.2013, after concluding the Yatra at Bastar, the leaders of the Congress Party were returning from Bastar in vehicles, on convoy. When they reached the place 'Jhiram Ghati', there was a brutal attack by a group of Maoist/Naxalites using improvised explosive device (IED). This was followed by sudden outburst of gun firing by the Naxalites on the persons and vehicles of the Congress leaders in the convoy, in the course of which, 11 senior Congress party leaders including the State Congress Chief and such others were shot down to death. Several Security Officers/Police personnel also succumbed to the bullet injuries.

(3.) In connection with the above massacre, an FIR was registered by the local Police, Darbha as Crime No. 25/2013 in respect of the offences under Sections 341, 347, 148, 149, 302, 307, 427, 396 and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 25 and 27 of the Arms Act and Sections 3 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, besides Section 38(2) and 39(2) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. It is borne out from the records that the investigation subsequently was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who completed the investigation and a charge sheet was submitted before the NIA Special Court, Bilaspur on 25.09.2014.