Gujarat headed for legal showdown with Dalit panel

By Dilip -
Narendra Modi's Gujarat appears to be getting embroiled in a legal tangle with a Congress-led panel over fake encounters. The National Commission for SCs has sent notices to the chief secretaries and DGPs of Gujarat and Rajasthan as also the CBI director asking them to depose on September 30 on a complaint that senior BJP leaders were trying to derail the probe into the infamous Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case. It has Modi-aide Amit Shah as a key accused.
The complaint stems from a sensational sting operation that featured senior BJP leaders allegedly conspiring to leave the Prajapati family defenceless -- by seeking affidavit from the deceased's mother to allow two alleged BJP contacts to take decisions on her behalf. NCSC chairman PL Punia told TOI, "It is a serious case of trying to rob the legal safeguard of a backward caste person. We have taken the case seriously and will seek details from the officials."
While the encounter case is sub-judice in which the dalit panel cannot intervene, the fresh allegations of alleged sabotage have provided an opening. At some stage, the commission could either ask the CBI to apprise the Supreme Court of the sting-related details or to seek an investigation into the sting.
A fresh probe could open up possibilities that may not be palatable to Modi. The protagonists in the sting claim that top state leadership was in the know of the attempt to hoodwink Prajapati's mother. Investigations into the allegations could thus train fresh spotlight on top BJP leaders. Coincidentally, the claims made by jailed encounter cop D G Vanzara in his resignation letter -- that the state government and former home minister Amit Shah were aware of the actions of police officers -- are in sync with the sting's claim that the bid to win over the deceased's mother too had sanction from the top.
The dalit panel had earlier asked Gujarat and Rajasthan to give its version on the plaint alleging sabotage of justice, but found no response. The quasi-judicial power of a civil court provides muscle to the commission while the presence of a Congress MP as its head creates unease among rivals. In the police firing on farmers in Bhatta Parsaul in Noida, the commission took up cudgels on behalf of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by summoning officials and seeking details about deaths.
While the then Mayawati administration kept stonewalling, there came a point when the state had to file an FIR and probe the issue.

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