Mumbai: In a shocking development, the Judicial Commission, which is conducting an enquiry into the violence that broke out in Pune's Bhima-Koregaon, on Friday, said it would be winding up the commission, as there is 'no cooperation' from the Maharashtra government.
This comes amid the ongoing fight between the Shiv Sena-led state government and the BJP-led union government for the handing over of the investigation into the Bhima-Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case to the NIA.
The two-member commission, comprising of Chief Justice (retd) JN Patel and former chief secretary Sumit Mullick, was constituted in February 2018 to conduct an enquiry into the riots that broke out in Pune on January 1, 2018, wherein one youth was killed. The commission was initially constituted for three months and was expected to submit a report of the incident along with recommendations for the state authorities to avoid such a situation in future.
However, the commission's deadline was being extended from time to time and, on February 8, 2019, the commission's last extended deadline would come to an end. The members of the commission are mulling not to seek a further extension and to instead wind up the panel for want of monetary help.
“We have expressed our displeasure and have communicated it to the government. We are of the view that the commission should be winded up now because there is hardly any cooperation from the government, especially for funds,” confirmed Justice Patel to the Free Press Journal.
According to Justice Patel, the government's home department has been dragging its feet over releasing the requisite funds. “From the last few months, my staff has not received its payments. The government is not ready to disburse the amounts for the reasons best known to them,” Justice Patel said.
“Whenever we ask for funds for the working of the commission, the officials of the home department cite the lack of funds. They (officials) tell us to wind up the commission, as they cannot grant the requisite funds,” Justice Patel added.
Justice Patel further informed that he has written a letter to the government, recommending it to wind up the commission for want of funds.
“We have observed that after exhausting the initial budget of Rs 52 lakh, which was inadequate, the government either committed delay in the sanction of supplementary budget or gave much less than sought. Salaries and other bills were not promptly passed,” reads the three-page letter of Justice Patel.
The letter further states how the government failed to reimburse the expenses made by the staff of the commission on a daily basis and how it created obstacles in sanctioning lump sum payments of the staff and also the professional charges of the panel's advocate.
“We demanded a budget to the tune of Rs 65 lakh. However, neither the home department nor the finance ministry fulfilled it. The circumstances indicate that the government is not serious about this commission. It is not possible for us to function without money, even for daily expenses. Thus, nullify the lapses on your part so that the commission functions effectively,” the letter reads.
