The SC-appointed SIT told trial court Judge that no departmental inquiry was conducted against two other police officers including a former Joint Commissioner of Police M K Tandon and the then Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) S S Chudasama since they had retired by the year 2009 when SIT had recommended an inquiry against the police officers to Gujarat government.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was set up to probe the 2002 Gulberg Society riot case, told the trial court here on Thursday that former Ahmedabad city Police Commissioner P C Pandey had no criminal role in the incident.
"Former Commissioner of Police in the city P C Pandey was not accused of any negligence. No criminality was shown by him nor attributed to him and therefore no departmental inquiry was conducted against Pandey," SIT Special Public Prosecutor R C Kodekar told the court.
The Supreme Court-appointed SIT told trial court Judge P B Desai that no departmental inquiry was conducted against two other police officers including a former Joint Commissioner of Police M K Tandon and the then Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) S S Chudasama since they had retired by the year 2009 when SIT had recommended an inquiry against the police officers to Gujarat government.
"On July 2, 2009, SIT wrote a letter to the then Director General of Police (DGP) to conduct a departmental inquiry against 18 Gujarat police officers including Tandon and Chudasama.
Responding to the letter, the DGP had said that, in principle, the police had accepted a probe into the role of police officers (during riots) but as per Rule 24 (b) of the Gujarat Civil Services Rules, no inquiry can be conducted against Tandon and Chudasma," Kodekar said.
Kodekar mentioned SIT's closure report before a local court in the year 2011 here and said that it had already investigated the role of top state functionaries, including police officers, and found no negligence on their part due to which no criminal role could be attributed to them.
Earlier, survivors of the Gulberg riot case had made an application to arraign four Gujarat police officials, including Pandey, Tandon and Chudasama, while a former Assistant Commissioner of Police P B Gondiya had alleged they did not react in time to rein in a mob that went on a rampage and killed 69 people from the minority community.
The deceased persons include a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the Congress, Ehsan Jafri. The Gulberg Society incident had taken place a day after a coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt near Godhra railway station, in which 58 people, believed to be kar sevaks, were killed.
Further hearing in this case has been posted for April 13.
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