Tragic state of country: Bombay HC on Pansare case
On Thursday, joint director of CBI, additional chief secretary home of Maharashtra state and state SIT chief were present during the hearing.
Mumbai: The Bombay high court has commented on the violence seen during the ongoing Maratha reservation stir across the state, saying, “We are seeing buses have been burned in the state and stones are being thrown on the police.” The court asked, “Is there any government that exists in the state?” The court's observations came while hearing a petition filed to arrest accused in the August 2013 Dr. Narendra Dabholkar murder case of Pune and February 2015 murder of comrade Govind Pansare in Kolhapur.
The court also came down heavily on the CBI for showing no urgency in the investigations of both the cases despite the country witnessing a “tragic phase” where one cannot speak or move around freely. Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013, in Pune while on his morning walk. Pansare was shot at on February 16, 2015, in Kolhapur and succumbed to his injuries a few days later on February 20.
A bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and Bharati Dangre was hearing a petition filed by family members of Dabholkar and Pansare seeking a court-monitored probe in the two cases.
On Thursday, joint director of CBI, additional chief secretary home of Maharashtra state and state SIT chief were present during the hearing.
When the lawyers tried to submit the probe report before the court the court said it was not satisfied with the probe and returned the 'confidential reports' with an observation that there was nothing confidential in those reports.
“We are witnessing a tragic phase in the country today. Citizens already feel that they can't voice their opinions fearlessly. Are we going to see a day when everyone will need police protection to move around, or to speak freely? People come and torch buses, pelt stones; it is a free for all. What are your priorities? There is a state, and then there is a government. The government might change, but what about the state that is home to millions of people?” the bench said.
The bench said that even though the senior officers of CID and CBI filed these reports directly in the judges' chambers claiming that they contained sensitive and confidential information, the perusal of the reports by the judges had revealed that they merely contained the summary of all that the agencies had submitted, by way of progress reports.