Boys face 55 cases in four states

Digvijay Singh, All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, said on Monday that in his interaction with families in Azamgarh, he had come across instances of some boys facing 55 cases in four states.

Singh will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday and submit a recommendation from the UP Congress, urging the government to set up a special court to try terrorism-related cases, in which many people from Azamgarh are facing charges. “I feel the people are entitled to a speedy trial in a special court,” he said.

“It’s not possible for them (the boys) to fight cases in different places at the same time. It’s only fair that all such cases are tried by one court. Besides, if there can be a national investigative agency for all terrorism-related cases, why not a special court, which will help the prosecution as well as the accused,” he said.
Singh said that most of the accused were educated people, and “if they are innocent, and if they come to believe that they will not get justice under the present system, it could lead to huge problems for everybody,” he said.

He appeared to have stirred a hornet’s nest by deciding to visit Azamgarh and interact with families of some of the accused.
The Bharatiya Janata Party accused him of pandering to minorities and even his own party had initially tried to distance itself from his visit. It was only after it became evident that he had undertaken the visit after consulting Rahul Gandhi and informing Sonia, that the party altered its stand.

Singh made it clear that he was not asking for a judicial inquiry into the Batla House encounter. The Delhi police had killed two suspected Indian Mujahideen militants and lost one of its ace inspectors in the gun-battle in New Delhi in September 2008.
“Now that the Supreme Court has rejected the demand and the National Human Rights Commission has conducted an inquiry, there is no point in demanding an enquiry. However, all the cases should be tried in one court, on a fast-track basis,” he said.

Singh also joined issue with those accusing him of vote-bank politics. “My visit was opposed by communalists from among Hindus and Muslims. If it was about pandering to minorities, would the ulema council have showed me black flags,” he asked.