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202nd Bhima Koregaon Battle anniversary: Inquiry commission still a long way from finishing investigation
The commission started with a deadline of three months, but is now in its 21st month of operation
The two-member Bhima Koregaon inquiry commission was constituted in February 2018 by the then Devendra Fadnavis government after violence rocked the Bhima Koregaon celebrations on January 1, 2018.
The commission is headed by the retired chief justice of Calcutta high court, Jay Narayan Patel, and includes former chief secretary and the present chief information officer of Maharashtra, Sumit Mullick.
The commission started with a deadline of three months, but is now in its 21st month of operation. The commission is currently deposing the 27th person to have submitted an affidavit. The commission has received over 500 affidavits, according to the commission registrar.
No person related to the Elgar Parishad, which was an event organised on December 31, 2017, in Pune, has yet deposed before the commission. The depositions so far have circled around the internal tension in Bhima Koregaon and Vadu Budruk villages.
The commission has six points of reference to work on, the sequence of events at Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018, causes and consequences; whether any individual/group of individuals/organisation were responsible, directly or indirectly for the violence; did the Pune district administration and the police prepare to ensure law and order; to fix responsibility with respect to the above criteria; to recommend short term and long term measures to the district administration and the police prevent recurrence of such incidents; and any other important recommendations.
The commission has received affidavits from various groups, including the village chiefs of the two villages of Bhima Koregaon and Vadu Budruk, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, left-wing cultural group Kabir Kala Manch member Harshali Potdar and Professor Jogendra Kawade, among others.
On more than one occasion, the commissioner, which functions in the capacity of a civil court, had to issue arrest warrants against people who had submitted affidavits, but refused to appear before the commission.
Advocate Shishir Hiray, who is representing the state government in the commission, said there are seven terms of reference made by the government which is to be answered by the commission after taking evidence on oath which is subject to cross-examination by all parties.
“The aim is to find out the truth from all the allegations, counter-allegations, rumours among others. The inquiry process is lengthy considering the entire magnitude of the episode which is not just January 1, 2018, but also back history. The history is traced beyond 1818,” said Hiray.
“The government is not terming anyone as upper-caste, lower-caste, Dalit, leftist or rightist, that is not our focus. Our focus is clear. In a longer run, we want peace in the state,” he said.
“The witnesses include historian Chandrakant Patil, Bhimrao Bansod, and Sharad Pawar who have also filed an affidavit with some very positive suggestions and the police department has also sent affidavits. Other ancillary organisation likes ZP, fire department among others have also filed affidavits,” said Hiray.
“Uniqueness of this commission is that Sudhir Dhawale and Surendra Gadling who are arrested accused had also filed an affidavit and requested examination, but they turned up in police protection and later refused to be examined,” said Hiray.
