JOIN USEternal wait for justice
“The police must obey the law while
enforcing the law. And that it is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.”
- American judge Earl Warren
The scenes of Gujarat super cop D G Vanzara walking out of Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad to a hero’s welcome was beamed across television screens in February, 2015.
Vanzara is one of the over 39 policemen, including about a dozen senior officers of the Gujarat Police who have been facing charges of fake encounters that were widely reported to have happened under the shadow of “political patronage” with brazen abuse of power. The welcome Vanzara received from his supporters, who shouted slogans hailing the Gujarat Police perhaps left quite a few people bewildered.
“I am looking for a new God,” says Hiren (name changed), a strong BJP supporter for over two generations. “What is being done in the name of letting the policemen involved with fake encounters go scot-free is very disturbing,” Hiren says.
While Vanzara walked out of jail after having spent about eight years behind bars, his other colleagues and seniors have been in prison for different time periods. Soon after being released, Vanzara told his supporters and the media waiting outside Sabarmati jail that “Lagta hai ki acche din aa rahey hain,” (It appears that good days are here) but he also knows for a fact that his fight to prove himself innocent is far from over.
Vanzara, along with other officers, has been facing charges of being part of plotting a number of encounters, including two that received maximum public attention. One, killing of Ishrat Jahan and three others in 2004. Second, killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauserbi in 2005 and his associate Tulsiram Prajapati in 2006.
“The police universally adopt strong arm tactics and we have seen umpteen number of cases of the police brutality being highlighted through modern history. However, in Gujarat, it had reached a level of sophistication,” Father Cedric Prakash of Prashant, an NGO working for human rights, justice and peace, says. “The way the police and state establishment in Gujarat made out the things, even a fifth standard kid would see through their wrongs,” he adds.
The case in point according to many, are a series of alleged fake encounter killings reported from Gujarat during the first decade of the 21st century. Some reports state that Gujarat saw 21 encounter killings between October 2002 and December 2006. But then, why have the men instead of getting punishment been released on bail by various courts across India and reinstated by the state governments? As of today, over 36 of the policemen have been reinstated by the Gujarat and Rajasthan governments.
“What presiding judges are saying is that the CBI has not done enough work. Secondly, the judiciary is not saying that these officials are not guilty. What they are saying is that because they have spent so much time in jail they are being granted bails,” Father Prakash said.
But what about justice for the victims and relatives of those who were killed in fake encounters? The lawyers Deccan Herald spoke to maintain that courts mostly go on the legality and not solely on the propriety of the case. Even the governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan which have reinstated these IPS officials state the right of these policemen to being reinstated as per Service Rules. “As per jurisprudence, no one can be proven guilty unless proven so,” former Gujarat minister and senior BJP leader in Gujarat Jainarayan Vyas, has oft repeated the statement over last decade.
On his part, Shamshad Pathan, a member of Jan Sangharsh Manch and lawyer claiming to represent relatives of people killed in fake encounter cases, feels that the relatives of victims have a strong case and during the trail they will be able to pin down the accused. “We have not investigated and said that the encounters were fake.
All the enquiries were carried out by senior Gujarat Police officials, be it Geeta Johari, Rajnish Rai, V L Solanki or Satish Varma.” They all were from Gujarat cadre when Narendra Modi was the chief minister and Amit Shah was the home minister. They, along with CBI officials, have said that the encounters were staged.
“Even courts have made similar observations more than once,” Shamshad says, adding “Till date, the Gujarat government has not said that their or CBI report is incorrect!” His main worry is that with most of the officials out on bail, and with some in key positions, it will further hit the victims hard. He says the relatives of those killed in encounters are now even more scarred and scared. “They feel that the witnesses too are scared and may be influenced and may change their testimony,” Shamshad says.
Scared to speak
Most of the people on the side of the police or the accused, however, appear to be keen on keeping away from speaking their mind. On his part, Father Prakash says that there is a palpable fear among the people who want to stand up for justice. He attributes this fear to a feeling among many that judiciary appears to be under pressure due to political patronage and change in dispensation at the highest level. “The space for civil society is shrinking fast post Modi becoming the Prime Minister,” he adds.
“With most of the policemen out on bail and politicians being let off, it is not without reason that some people may feel that it is one more step to final acquittal of all those who supposedly plotted and executed heinous encounters,” a retired senior police official said on the condition of anonimity.
He said that what the episodes have led to is suffering of relatively junior policemen, who appeared to have become a tool of the powerful. “The relatives of not just those killed in encounters but even the parents, spouses, children of so-called encounter specialists have suffered a lot of trauma, pain in the last one decade,” the police official said.
Those who somewhat know the law, however, appear more practical. They say that despite their best interests, it may well be years before a judgement in even one of the cases is delivered. A view echoed by none other than P P Pandey when he was reinstated to office by the Gujarat government. “By the time I am cleared it will take centuries.”
Does India and Indians have the patience or persistence for these centuries to find out the truth and the real meaning of the motto of our country ‘Satyameva Jayate’? Perhaps the Indian judiciary may provide a few answers.
Ishrat Jahan and her three associates
The crime branch of the Ahmedabad Police is suspected to have killed Ishrat Jahan, then a 19-year-old girl from Mumbra, Maharashtra, on June 15, 2004. She, along with three others, Pranesh Pillai (alias Javed Gulam Sheikh), Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar whom the police said had links with the terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and were plotting to kill Modi. They were killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad reportedly by a team led by Vanzara.
Later, an investigation found that the encounter was fake. In 2009, Ahmedabad Metropolitan court ruled that the encounter was staged. The CBI started the investigation following a Gujarat High Court order in December 2011. On July 3, 2013, the CBI in its chargesheet said in an Ahmedabad court that shooting was staged and carried out in cold blood.
Sohrabuddin Saga
The Gujarat Police claim that Sohrabuddin Anwarhussain Sheikh had risen from being a small time criminal to working with big organised crime syndicates. It was alleged that he was part of a plot to fan communal tension in Gujarat post 2002 riots by assassinating an important political leader. However, before he could implement his plan, he was killed in an encounter on November 26, 2005.
The suspicion of the encounter being fake arose due to the sudden disappearance of Sheikh’s wife Kauser Bi and the killing of his associate Tulsiram Prajapati on December 26, 2006.
The details came to the fore after Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin approached the Supreme Court. While there have been allegations of political involvement, including of current National BJP President Amit Shah, senior BJP leaders Om Mathur and Gulab Chand Kataria from Rajasthan, investigating agencies have failed to put forth any concrete evidence in public.
Sadiq Jamal case
Killed in November 13, 2003
CBI claims that Gujarat Police encounter took place based on fake input and profile generated IB
Names eight Gujarat policemen of criminal conspiracy and murder; two retired IB officials under scanner
In first chargesheet in December 2013, CBI says the encounter was stage-managed and Jamal was kept in illegal confinement
THE MEN IN-CHARGE AND CHARGED
D G Vanzara
Dahyaji Gobarji Vanzara, a 1987 batch IPS Officer, was one of the most controversial officers and key person charged with involvement in killing of Ishrat and three others; Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife and aide Tulsiram Prajapati; and some of the other encounter cases that took place in Gujarat between 2002 to 2007 (when he was arrested).
While Vanzara was released on bail in Sohrabuddin encounter killing on Sept 11, 2014, he got bail in Ishrat Jahan case on Feb 05, 2015. He has been given bail with warning not to enter Gujarat or tamper with evidence. He retired as Deputy Inspector General of Police in June 2014, while he was still in jail.
Rajkumar Pandian
A 1996-batch IPS officer, Pandian, according to the CBI charge sheet, was part of the team of Gujarat ATS and played a role in every stage of the conspiracy – right from bringing Sohrabuddin from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad till his killing and destroying evidence. He is also a key accused in the 2007 encounter of Prajapati, the sole eyewitness to Sohrabuddin’s killing. The Gujarat government reinstated Pandian, released on bail in March 2014 after seven years in jail and posted him as a liaison officer at the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation in Mumbai as he has been asked to stay in Mumbai.
G L Singhal
The CBI arrested the Gujarat Police officer G L Singhal on May 21, 2013, in connection with the fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan. Singhal was ACP crime branch at the time of the encounter. The CBI in its FIR has alleged that Singhal played an active role in the encounter, which was later found to be fake by the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Gujarat High Court.
Singhal was given a default bail by the Ahmedabad CBI court on May 27, 2013, after the CBI failed to chargesheet him in the mandatory 90-day period. Singhal has now been reinstated and is currently serving as Group Commandant SRP, Gandhinagar.
Dinesh M N
A 1995 IPS batch officer and resident of Karnataka, Dinesh is also known in certain circles as Daya Nayak or Vanzara of Rajasthan. An electronics and telecommunications engineer, he was one of the accused in the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh. Dinesh was arrested on April 25, 2007, and was accused by the CBI of being present at the spot of Sohrabuddin’s killing. He was released on bail by the Bombay High Court in May 5, 2014 and reinstated by the Vasundhara Raje-led Rajasthan government on May 9, 2014.
P P Pandey
He is one of Gujarat’s top most police officials to be accused of staging an encounter to kill Ishrat Jahan and three others. He is accused as one of the main conspirators in the case and has many allegations against him, including murder, abduction and wrongful confinement. He has been reinstated as Additional DGP for Law and Order in the Gujarat Police.
There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the families of the victims of the suspected fake encounters in Gujarat. It has been years but the wheels of justice are rolling slowly and no one knows when even one of the about 36 such cases would end. As the victims’ families wait for justice, the accused police officers have not just been released but also reinstated by the state government.