STATE OF CHHATTISGARH Vs. SPECIAL JUDICIAL ENQUIRY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Being aggrieved by the order dated 11.10.2019 Annexure P-1 passed by the Special Judicial Enquiry Commission constituted for enquiry of Jheeram Ghati incident the present writ petition has been filed.

(2.) The brief facts which led to the filing of the writ petition are that on 25.05.2013, the prominent leaders of the State Congress Committee were on a Parivartan Yatra as a part of the campaigning of the Congress party for the Lok Sabha elections that were held in the year 2018. On the said date, the area for campaigning and Parivartan Yatyra was in Bastar. After days long campaigning at Bastar, all the prominent leaders of the State Congress Party including top leadership at the state level were returning from Bastar in a convoy of vehicles. When the said convoy was crossing "Jheeram Ghati", they were ambushed by a large group of Maoist Naxalites and there was a sudden outburst of firing of bullets from the guns of Naxalites on the vehicles of Congress Leaders and the convoy. In the course of attack, 11 senior-most Congress party leaders including State Congress Chief Nand Kumar Patel and other top leaders Vidyacharan Shukla, Mahendra Karma etc. got killed. In addition, a large number of security personnel attached to these political leaders were also killed. The Naxalites had also used IED blast in the course of their attack.

(3.) An FIR in this regard was lodged at the local Police Station Darbha as Crime No.25/2013 and an offence under Sections 341, 347, 148, 149, 302, 307, 427, 396, 120B of IPC along with Sections 25 and 27 of Arms Act and Sections 3 and 5 of Explosive Substance Act and also Section 38 (2) 39(2) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 was registered.