Former BC premier writes to CJI for probe into Red Fort violence

In an open letter to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Ujjal Dosanjh has sought a probe by a special investigation team, terming the violence a criminal conspiracy to undermine the farmers’ protest

Ujjal Dosanjh, a former premier of British Columbia and the first Indo-Canadian provincial leader, has urged Chief Justice of India SA Bobde to take suo motu cognizance of the violence at Red Fort on Republic Day and order a probe by a special investigation team monitored by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

(Left) Ujjal Dosanjh, a former premier of British Columbia, has tweeted an open letter to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, urging him to order a probe into the violence at Red Fort on Republic Day.

In an open letter to the CJI on Tuesday, Dosanjh wrote, “It is quite evident from the publicly available information that the disturbance at the Red Fort was caused by rogue elements illegitimately claiming to represent the peaceful and disciplined Samyukat Kisan Morcha. The substantial preponderance of evidence provides reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the events at Red Fort were the culmination of a criminal conspiracy to cause disturbance with the purpose and intent of undermining one of the largest and longest non-violent protest campaigns in the history of the country.”

Dosanjh, a Punjab-origin member of the Canadian Parliament for Vancouver South from 2004-11, said there were “reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the rogue elements may have been aided and abetted by the leadership of the Government of India and its security establishment, including the police.”

“In view of the foregoing and the long history of judicial activism of the court, I urge you to take suo motu cognizance of the evidence of the events of January 26 at Red Fort and order an investigation by a special investigation team, monitored by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court,” he added.