The Nanavati commission began its work in March 2002.
Will the Nanavati commission enquiring into the communal riots of 2002 deliver its report by December 31 this year when its latest extension is scheduled to end?
Or does it intend to ask for more time to complete the enquiry? The Gujarat high court on Thursday sought an answer to the two questions from the state government.
In response to a PIL filed by one Jignesh Goswami, the court asked the state government to get information in this regard from the Nanavati-Mehta commission and submit it in court on December 22.
Expressing concern over the huge expenditure incurred on the enquiry commission by the state exchequer, Goswami wanted to know how long the Nanavati commission would continue to function and when it intended to deliver its final report.
The Nanavati commission's latest extension is scheduled to be over at the end of this month.
The Nanavati commission began its work in March 2002. It has been given 17 extensions by the state government till date.
"The state government has spent Rs6.37 crore on the Nanavati commission but it is yet to deliver its final report on the communal riots of 2002," said KG Pandit, counsel for Goswami.
Government pleader PK Jani assured the high court bench comprising acting chief justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and justice JB Pardiwala that the government would get the information sought in the PIL from the secretary of the commission.
"We have sought the intervention of the high court to seek details from the government on how long the commission will function and how the government had given it extensions without any objection," said Pandit.
Pandit further said that the government should also tell the people to what extent it will implement the recommendations that may be given by the commission regarding the infamous riots.
"The Nanavati commission has already submitted its interim report on the train fire at Godhra railway station but the government has not implemented its recommendations," he said.
The state government had formed the enquiry commission headed by retired Supreme Court judge, GT Nanavati, on March 27, 2002 for three months. The commission gave its first report in September 2008.
It said in the report that the fire in the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002 in which 59 karsevaks were burnt alive was the result of a pre-planned conspiracy.
Large-scale riots had erupted across the state in its aftermath.
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