Chidambaram opposed to inquiry into Azad killing

Home Minister P. Chidambaram made it clear that he was opposed to the demand for an inquiry into the encounter killing of Maoist leader ‘Azad’.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram made it clear that he was opposed to the demand for an inquiry into the encounter killing of Maoist leader ‘Azad’.

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“Please tell me under which law the Centre should initiate inquiry into the encounter killing of Maoist leader ‘Azad’, I am asking my non-lawyer friend Yashwant Sinha,” Chidambaram said, replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Bhopal gas tragedy.

The minister chose to speak on the issue when Sinha intervened and said, “Your minister (Mamata Banerjee) has demanded an inquiry into the case.”

Chidambaram said, “Maintaining law and order in the state is the responsibility of the respective state government. If you want an inquiry, you go to state Assembly and ask for passing a resolution for that. If you want any resources under my command for an inquiry into the case, I am ready to provide.”

Responding to the queries of members on the role of the Centre in the Sohrabuddin case, Chidambaram said, “It was the Gujarat government which transferred the case to CID. The CBI inquiry was instituted by the apex court when CID took the case to it.”

He said, “Whether somebody is a good man or bad man, he should not be killed in a fake encounter. When I took the charge of my ministry, I made it clear that there would no fake encounter killings by any Central agency.”

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj alleged that the CBI had arrested ex-Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah for the killing involving a terrorist, while Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson was given a “royal farewell” by the Rajiv Gandhi government.

In the Rajya Sabha, in response to BJP MP Ramdas Aggarwal’s query whether anyone in the government can support the Maoists, Chidambaram said, “The question has been framed in a general manner, therefore I would generally like to say that no one should support Maoists and the Government will not encourage anybody who does so.”