Suleiman bakery firing: SC notice to ex- top cop

The respite given by Bombay High Court to former Mumbai police commissioner R.D. Tyagi in the 1993 Suleiman bakery firing case might be shortlived.

The respite given by Bombay High Court to former Mumbai police commissioner R.D. Tyagi in the 1993 Suleiman bakery firing case might be shortlived. The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to Tyagi and eight other policemen.

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“Tyagi will have to file his reply saying why victim Noorul Huda Maqbool Ahmed’s petition challenging the discharge of nine officials, including Tyagi, from the case should not be admitted,” said Ahmed’s advocate Vijay Pradhan.

On January 9, 1993, Tyagi had ordered his Special Operation Squad to break open the bakery door and in the ensuing melee eight people died. The Srikrishna Commission had also indicted Tyagi for his role in the firing.

The police had booked 18 policemen for murder and attempt murder. But in 2003, the sessions court discharged nine of them, including Tyagi.

Ahmed challenged the order in the Bombay High Court. Advocate Shrikant Shivde, who had appeared for Tyagi in the high court, argued that somebody at the bakery had fired a shot and “any police officer in the shoes of Tyagi would have issued the same direction”.

On October 16, 2009, the court upheld the discharge order.