6 years, 14 extensions later Koregaon Bhima Commission’s work still unfinished

It has been six years since the caste conflict broke out at Koregaon Bhima and the work of the Commission to probe into the events that led to the clashes is yet to be completed after 14 extensions

Pune: As the 206th anniversary of the battle of Koregaon Bhima draws near, Pune district administration has teamed up with the law enforcing agencies to monitor social media to avoid any untoward incident.

It has been six years since the caste conflict broke out at Koregaon Bhima and the work of the Commission to probe into the events that led to the clashes is yet to be completed after 14 extensions. (HT)

The battle of Koregaon Bhima was fought between the British Army and Peshwa forces on January 1, 1818.

It has been six years since the caste conflict broke out at Koregaon Bhima, prompting nationwide arrests of activists, lawyers and writers, amid the main question about what led to the violence on January 1, 2018 still remains unanswered as the work of Koregaon Bhima Commission to probe into the events that led to the clashes on the occasion of bicentennial celebrations is yet to be completed even after 14 extensions.

The two-member commission, headed by retired high court justice JN Patel, was constituted by the state government in February 2018 by the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Initially, the Commission was given four months to submit its report.

The Covid outbreak during 2020-21 and issues like space where the probe panel can conduct proceedings and lack of manpower led to the delay, according to the Commission secretary VV Palnitkar.

“The commission work had come to a standstill between March 2020 and July 2021 due to Covid. The commission also faced space issues since it was formed. Earlier we conducted hearing at the chief information commissioner’s office and then demanded the Sahyadri guest house,” said Palnitkar.

In November 2021, the Commission had announced suspension of its functioning due to lack of space. In its correspondence to the state home department, the Commission had sought two rooms - one cabin for commission members and another for the office in Mumbai. Following the announcement by the Commission, the state government led by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray promptly stated that one room would be made available to the panel at the Sahyadri guesthouse in Mumbai to conduct the hearings.

“We faced space issue in Mumbai for a very long time,” said Palnitkar.

After almost six years, the Commission has so far examined 49 witnesses and four have been partly heard of the total 53 witnesses listed. Considering ₹5 lakh to cover salaries and other expenses of the Commission members each month, the state government has so far spent around ₹3.5 crore.

“The Commission works under the directions of the home department which also releases their salaries and sanctions budget for the same,” he said.

So far, top senior police officials like Vishwas Nangre Patil and Rashmi Shukla, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi president and great grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Prakash Ambedkar, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and others have recorded their testimonies before the commission.

On delay in submitting the report, Prakash said, “Please ask the Commission. I cannot comment on that.”

Outfits such as the Republican Party of India (Athawale faction) had raised the issue of delay saying, “only a handful of people were recorded during the conclusion of the first phase of the hearings in Pune”.

Besides the Commission head retired high court justice Patel, former chief secretary Sumit Mullick is the second member of the commission; secretary of the commission is Palnitkar; the commission’s lawyer is Ashish Satpute, and advocate Shishir Hiray. Having been given multiple extensions since its formation in 2018, the city police stated that “provocative” speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held on December 31, 2017, in the city had triggered the violence which took place near the victory pillar area in Perne village at Koregaon Bhima the next day.

In the aftermath of violence, two FIRs were lodged regarding the Elgar Parishad violence. In the first FIR, Hindutva leaders Sambhaji Bhinde and Milind Ekbote were booked for carrying out violence while the second one alleged that the Left leaning groups owing allegiance to Maoist ideology had instigated the violence.

Based on the second FIR, the Pune police arrested activists, intellectuals and writers comprising Rona Wilson, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Stan Swamy, Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Dr Anand Teltumde and Sudhir Dhawale.

The FIR stated that arrested intellectuals were involved in anti-national offences like “waging war against the nation”, promoting enmity between different caste groups, and spreading Maoist ideology.

The commission has six terms of reference including identifying causes of the January 1, 2018, riots that took place in Pune, identifying responsible groups, determining whether the police and the administration were prepared enough, and recommending short and long-term measures. The commission was initially given four months to submit its report, but its tenure was extended repeatedly giving it time to complete its investigation into the exact sequence of events leading to the clashes. Due to the Covid outbreak, the commission issued a letter on March 23, 2020, and had postponed all hearings until further notice.