Panel probing Bhima Koregaon violence suspends hearings

The judicial commission probing the violence near Pune’s Bhima Koregaon in 2018 has suspended its hearings saying the Maharashtra govt is yet to provide it suitable accommodation in Mumbai

The judicial commission probing the violence near Pune’s Bhima Koregaon in 2018 has suspended its hearings saying the Maharashtra government is yet to provide it suitable accommodation in Mumbai despite a follow-up and several request letters.

Followers of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar pay tributes at the ‘Jay Stambh’ on the 203rd anniversary of the Koregaon Bhima battle in Pune, India on January 1, 2021. (HT/ File photo)

In a letter written by the commission’s secretary, VV Palnitkar, to the state government, a copy of which HT has seen, he said despite repeated letters, “nothing was heard from the government till October 31, 2021 about availability of suitable accommodation”. He added therefore, there is no other option but to suspend the hearing schedule till the government provides the accommodation. “Accordingly, the Commission hereby suspends all future hearings till the Government provides suitable accommodation at Mumbai.”

The letter said the commission informed the government it had to postpone the hearings scheduled in March and April 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions imposed to avoid crowding. ”In its seventh status report, the commission has stated that it is likely to examine about 40 more witnesses and expects further extension of at least six months.”

The two-member commission, headed by retired high court justice J N Patel, was constituted by the then state government of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in February 2018 to probe into the sequence of events that led to violence on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018.