NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has frowned upon the large number of acquittals in the infamous Kandhamal communal riots that claimed 93 lives in Odisha in 2008 and directed the Naveen Patnaik government to take a relook at 315 cases that the police closed citing lack of evidence.
Terming the closure reports as “disturbing”, a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said the cases need to be re-examined to bring the culprits to book. It even expressed concern at the outcome of the 512 cases in which the police filed final investigation reports and sent them for trial.
The court noted that only 78 persons were convicted in the 362 of the 512 cases in which trials have concluded. The local police had registered 827 criminal cases in the aftermath of the riots.
The top court voiced its distress over the high number of acquittal in riots-related cases.