Dilip Simeon's blog

transcript of the interview Rohini Salian, the Mumbai special prosecutor retained by the National Investigation Agency to handle the Malegaon 2008 bomb blast case involving Hindutva extremists, gave Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV on her allegation that the NIA asked her to go “soft” on the accused.  The interview  was telecast on June 29, 2015. Sreenivasan Jain:  Hello and welcome to this NDTV exclusive. The Malegaon blast case of 2008  has been at the centre of a controversy ever since the anti-terror squad in Maharashtra probing it alleged that it was Hindutva extremists behind the blast. Now, even after the NIA has taken over the case, a fresh controversy has surrounded this particular investigation, with allegations being made by none other than a special prosecutor handling the case, Rohini Salian, that she has been asked to go soft on the case since there has been a change of regime. The NIA forces rebutted this but lets get Rohini Salia...

NB:  This is a very significant article by a police officer who was Mumbai police commissioner, DGP Gujarat and DGP Punjab at serious moments in Indian history. The appearance of communal bias in criminal justice is a poison that will destroy the Indian polity. It is a machine of perpetual motion, similar to the enemy system whereby 'Nations' are locked in animosity for all time (very suitable for arms contractors and fanatics). It is similar again to the negative results arising from the Indian Defence Minister saying he reserves the right to deploy terrorists to fight terrorists, which can only strengthen fanatical elements across the border. Bias in policing crime in India will quicken the erosion of faith in justice - and add energy to the private militias.  Rebeiro says:  The masterminds of the 26/11 attacks are treated like heroes in Pakistan.  We are not there yet, but if hidden hands nudge the judicial system to free murderers of the saffron variety, w...

Former Special Prosecutor Rohini Salian has disclosed that it was Suhas Warke, a Superintendent of Police in the National Investigation Agency (NIA), who asked her to “go soft” against the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case after the NDA came to power.  Petition in Supreme Court Accuses NIA of Soft-Pedaling Hindutva Terror Cases Public Appeal - Resist degradation of Indian criminal justice system More than three months after Salian’s interview to The Indian Express, the first disclosure on the name of the agency officer has been made in an affidavit she filed in a matter relating to initiation of contempt proceedings against NIA for “tending to hamper the judicial process,” resulting in “weakening of the prosecution’s case”. “I am told that a criminal contempt petition is filed before this Honb’le court and in administration of justice and as an officer of the court, I am disclosing the name of the NIA officer, who had tried to interfere with the delivery of the a...

NB: Few of our opinion-makers have noticed the sinister significance of the appearance of the RSS chief alongside Ex-DIG Vanzara  (out on bail after nearly 8 years in prison on fake encounter charges) on April 10, 2016. This is an example of the 'Parivar' proclaiming its justification for extra-judicial killings. The only comment I have seen is by Apoorvanand , on April 15, which is a very important analysis. What is taking place all over South Asia is the  dissolution of the distinction between lawful and unlawful violence ; the takeover of state institutions by private armies - or the undermining of these institutions by a mix of communal bias and fear. In a word, the systematic criminalisation of the state PREM SHANKAR JHA Fake Encounters Sowed the Wind and India is Reaping the Whirlwind Sadhvi Pragya escapes the law, Hemant Karkare's image takes hit Malegaon blast case: ATS cited Sadhvi’s phone call, strategy meeting and a bike, NIA rejected all   Meanwhile t h...

NB - Yet more proof, if it were necessary, that India's justice system is undergoing death by a thousand cuts - in broad daylight. Communalism is a direct instance of criminalisation of the state. Everyone who celebrates this in a spirit of revenge, or who remains silent, will have cause to regret it. This government is shameless - as is becoming evident in its attitude to the whole IPL scandal. But then a large section of Indian public opinion still considers the theft of money to be a greater crime than mass murder. What is happening to our justice system is also corruption - because corruption means perversion from fidelity . The elected (and unelected) persons controlling the reins of power and who pervert our institutions are corrupt. We shall live and learn. Hopefully it will not be too late. DS " Since this new govt came, I have been told to go soft on accused " Rohini Salian, Special Public Prosecutor in the case related to the Malegaon 2008 blasts in which...