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Zahira under pressure, human rights
panel informs court
S.S. Negi
Our Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 10
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on whose petition the Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre and the Gujarat Government on the Best Bakery case acquittals, has informed the apex court that Zahira Sheikh, key eyewitness in the case, has named certain persons for putting pressure on her to retract her statement about the identity of the culprits.

“She has named certain persons who are responsible for her retracting her earlier statement. It is apparent that the atmosphere in which the trial was conducted was not conducive to prosecution witnesses deposing in a fair and fearless manner,” said the NHRC in a petition seeking the transfer of nine other riot cases outside Gujarat for trial.

“Zahira has disclosed the reasons for her turning hostile. She has said there is threat to her life if she deposes truthfully,” the commission said.

The commission sought the transfer of nine cases out of the state for trial, which included the one relating to the burning of the Sabarmati Express. The others were the Farooq Hassan case at the juvenile court at Godhra, the Patel Rameshbhai Kanjibhaui case at Bijaypur, the Kailash Lalchand Bhai Dhobi case at Bhadra, and the Shankarji Hakaji Mali, Sandep alias Sonu Ghanghru Valo, Vishal Badrilal Nayee, Naresh Amarshingh Chhara and Padamendra Sinh cases at Ahmedabad.

The apex court, at this stage, was not inclined to issue any direction on the NHRC plea for transfer of these cases as it first sought a reply from the Centre and the Gujarat Government on the Best Bakery case.

The commission said in the present circumstances, there was no possibility of “fair trial” in all these cases as the Gujarat Government had failed to provide minimum protection to the witnesses, the victims and their families.

“The verdict in the Best Bakery case is a testimony to the failure of the criminal justice system on many counts and the trial judge, in his order, has admitted it,” the commission said, adding that the trial judge’s main failure was that he did not adjourn the case or order the conduct of the trial in camera despite finding that prosecution witnesses were turning hostile.

The commission said the investigating agencies had created false evidence and charged wrong persons as accused in the court to save the real ones, resulting in miscarriage of justice.

“Such an attitude of the investigating agencies is striking directly at the root of the criminal justice system,” the NHRC said in its petition.

“Concerned at the violation of fundamental rights and human rights of the victims and the fair trial, the petitioner (NHRC) seeks to invoke the extraordinary powers of the apex court to set aside the erroneous order of acquittal in the Best Bakery case and transfer of other cases outside,” it said.