BJP arm-twisted Justice Somasekhara Commission report, says MF Saldanha

Without mentioning the BJP, former high court judge MF Saldanha has said that the Justice Somasekhara Commission report was twisted according to the wishes of the ‘party in power in the state’.

Saldanha, who headed a fact finding committee on church attacks in the state, suspected that something drastic had happened between the interim report and the final one.

He said, “Justice Somasekhara had released his interim report in a press conference in February 2010. That report had been totally different, for which he was indirectly admonished by the chief minister by saying that the government would terminate the commission, but after that we do not know what transpired between justice Somasekhara and chief minister BS Yeddyurappa. The commission was given eight extensions and the final report did not hold anybody responsible for the attacks on churches, which is nothing short of total betrayal of the hope and confidence bestowed on the commission by the people”

Reacting to demands of a CBI inquiry into the attacks, Saldanha said it would be a long-driven process.

“By that time, the public memory of the attacks will be erased and the purpose of the investigation will be obliterated. Moreover, the CBI was running short of officers following several mega scams including the Commonwealth Games and the 2G spectrum investigations,” he said.

Saldanha said that the church attacks were carried out by Hindus, but executed by people who had motivations and enthusiasms in politics. “The fact finding committee has felt that there was also a powerful indictment of some of the politicians and police officers,” he said.

“The former deputy commissioner had told us that he had issued prohibitory orders on the day of the attacks, but that order copy was never given to us. I now doubt that there was no such order issued by the district administration. Had there been one, things would not have taken such horrifying dimensions,” said Saldanha.