Yogi Adityanath govt initiates process on withdrawal of 131 riots cases
The BJP government of
Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh has initiated the process on the withdrawal of
131 cases linked to the 2013 communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli,
including 13 of murder and 11 of attempt to murder. Documents examined by
The cases include charges under IPC sections
related to “heinous” crimes with a minimum punishment of seven years in jail.
Besides, there are 16 cases under section 153 A on charges of promoting enmity
on religious grounds, and two under section 295 A for deliberate and malicious
acts intended to insult a religion or religious beliefs.
At least 62 persons
died and thousands lost their homes in the riots that took place in September
2013. Following the violence, a total of 503 cases were registered against
around 1,455 persons at police stations in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli by the
then Samajwadi
Party government.
The decision to start
the process on the withdrawal was taken after a delegation of khap leaders from
Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, including BJP MP Sanjiv Balyan and the party’s
Budhana MLA Umesh Malik, met Chief Minister Adityanath on February 5 and
presented a list of 179 cases. Speaking to The Indian
Express, Balyan said that in the list presented to the Chief Minister, all the
accused were Hindus. On February 23, UP’s
Law Department sent letters signed by Special Secretary, Rajesh Singh, to the
district magistrates of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, seeking details of the 131
cases under 13 points, including current status.
One of the points
state: “In connection with the withdrawal of cases, your clear opinion on
public interest with reason.” Along with the letter,
the government also attached eight pages referring to each FIR, including name
of the district and police station where it was lodged, the case number and IPC
sections listed. Official sources told
The Indian Express that the district magistrates forwarded the letter to the SP
and the prosecuting officer for the required details. When contacted,
Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said, “I have no knowledge about it.
The state’s Law Department deals with such matters.” The Law Department’s
Special Secretary, Singh, declined comment. However, sources in the department
confirmed that the letter had been sent.
Baliyan said: “In the
meeting with the Chief Minister last month, I requested him to consider the
withdrawal of 179 cases in which over 850 Hindus were held accused. All these
cases were registered in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts. We had been
preparing the list for a while now. The cases include those of arson, attempt
to murder and damage of properties but not murder.” However, MLA Malik
confirmed that “there are murder cases too on the list”. “After receiving the
list, the Chief Minister had told us that list would be sent to the law
department for opinion. I don’t know the present status of the list,” Malik
said. On January 5, the
state government had sought a report from Muzaffarnagar administration on the
withdrawal of nine cases against Malik, including 2 for the riots.