New Delhi: The Supreme Court today directed the Maharashtra government to place on record details of the inquiry against police personnel in the Palghar Sadhu lynching case.
The bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice R Subhash Reddy hearing a petition filed by Mahant Shradhananad Saraswati and six other Sadhus of the Juna Akhara and Ghanshyam Upadhyay seeking CBI and NIA probe into the investigation of the Palghar Lyncing case alleging bias in the present investigation by the state authorities.
The bench said that the Maharashtra government should file before the court copies of the chargesheets lodged in the case. The court said that it wants to examine the chargesheets.
The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had suggested that the chargesheets should be filed before court as well. “Let the court decide whether it’s relevant or not,” he had said.
The SG said that media reports suggest that the chargesheets run into more than 10,000 pages. “Whether there were any policemen involved in the offence, or was there any dereliction of duty calling for disciplinary action has to be considered,” he said.
The advocate for the Juna Akhara- said that the sadhus were virtually handed over to the mob. “It was a massacre.”
The Maharashtra government informed the court that two chargesheets have already been filed with the court in the Palghar sadhu lynching case. A third chargesheet will be filed by Monday.
The third chargesheet is the one relating to the attack on policemen, when they went to arrest the accused persons. It is not directly about the lynching.
Advocate Subhash Jha said that unless the Centre looks into the matter sadhus will continue to be killed in Maharashtra. “Call in the NIA to investigate. The incident happened in April. Now it’s August and no action has been taken against any policemen.”
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The bench said: “Let Maharashtra bring the chargesheets on record. Also, details of the inquiry against police personnel and the action taken against police personnel should be brought on record.
The hearing has been set after three weeks.
– India Legal Bureau