The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to Madhya Pradesh government, former state revenue minister Kamal Patel and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed on Khirakiya riots of Harda district that occurred in September 2013.
The notices were issued by a bench of chief justice HL Dattu and justice AK Sikri while hearing the PIL filed by national secretary of Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Anurag Modi. In the petition, Modi has demanded CBI investigation into the Harda riot and especially in the roles played by Kamal Patel, his sons and his associates.
Counsel for the petitioner, Pyoli told HT over telephone that notices were served to all the eight parties in the case including the above mentioned three and replies are expected in four weeks. Pyoli assisted advocate Prashant Bhushan who appeared for the petitioner.
Speaking to HT, the petitioner said he has alleged in the petition that the riot (of September 19, 2013) was not a sudden incident spurred by public anger, but a conspiracy hatched by Kamal Patel (who was then a Harda MLA) in the run up to the assembly polls of November 2013.
He said though 12 separate FIRs were filed by the police in connection with the incident, evidences of the involvement of Patel's sons produced by the petitioner in the form of photographs were not considered by the police. He said the main accused Surendra Rajput 'Tiger' is a known associate of Kamal Patel. Rajput was arrested a year after the incident only when a petition was filed in High Court. Also, Patel's son Sudip was also made an accused in the case only after the petition.
{{/usCountry}}He said though 12 separate FIRs were filed by the police in connection with the incident, evidences of the involvement of Patel's sons produced by the petitioner in the form of photographs were not considered by the police. He said the main accused Surendra Rajput 'Tiger' is a known associate of Kamal Patel. Rajput was arrested a year after the incident only when a petition was filed in High Court. Also, Patel's son Sudip was also made an accused in the case only after the petition.
{{/usCountry}}Modi said the CBI inquiry is imperative in the case as it was a conspiracy and police had allegedly acted in a partial manner during investigation.
The riots had broken out after there were allegations against members of particular community of killing a calf. Homes of 70 community members were torched and their business establishments too were burnt. Postmortem reports had later proved that the calf had died after consuming polythene bags, the petition mentions.