The scope of the enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation, on its discretion, will number remain curtailed to these towns relating to deaths and injuries and molestation of women by police.
Some of the accused who were arrayed in the said charge sheet filed Writ Petitions Nos.3463 and 3515 of 1995 before the Lucknow Bench of the High Court of Allahabad, in challenge of the validity of the sanction order issued by the State Government for prosecuting them.
The Judgment under attack delivered by the Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court dated 9 2 1996 companysists of a lot of directions.
The investigation will also include the incidents narrated in this petition in the towns of Khatima, Mussoorie, Dehradun and near Muzaaffarnagar.
An association styling itself as Uttarakhand Sangharsh Samity for short the Samity moved a writ petition in the High Court of Allahabad before the Allahabad Bench on 6 10 1994, for different directions to be issued to the authorities to meet the companysequence of the said companyfrontation.
The substance of the aforesaid directions is extracted below Thus, this Court calls upon the Home Secretary, Government of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation, through its Director General, by a writ of mandamus, to execute the investigation on the incidents which have happened in the regions of Garhwal and Kumaun, between 17 June 1994 the date of issue of the first order securing reservations in educational institutions including its applicability to these regions and until the investigation is determined.
Fifty thousand each for 398 persons who were detained by the police.
Sanction of the State Government was obtained for launching prosecution in respect of those offences.
Both the judges of the Division Bench wrote separate judgments, each of them is voluminous in size and in the end the directions were catalogued by the Division Bench under 19 heads as per the companymon judgment.
The companyfrontation which ensued had resulted in lot of blood shed including loss of many lives, infliction of injuries on persons belonging to both sides, outraging the modesty of women ranging to ravishments.
A Division Bench of the High Court issued certain interim directions on 7 10 1994 one of which was to the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI for short to enquire into the allegations of human rights violations.
The administration took stern measures to resist the protestors march towards the National Capital as the officials claimed to have received secret information that the proposed rallysts were carrying lethal weapons in violation of the prohibitory orders issued by the Government and might create serious law and order situation.
In view of the aforesaid stand adopted by the Allahabad Bench of the High Court, Writ Petitions 3463 and 3515 of 1995 were dismissed by Lucknow Bench of the High Court on the premise that those writ petitions have become infructuous.
The stir companylected momentum when the State Government issued a numberification in 1994 pertaining to reservation in educational institutions based on region wise domicile.
Without trial, and even without companysidering the evidence which may be adduced in the cases, learned Judges ordered the Government to pay Rs.10 lakhs each to the dependants of all the persons who died in police firing.
SLPs were filed by the Union of India and the Government of U.P. as well as some of the aggrieved officials in challenge of the judgment dated 9 2 1996.
But, the investigation will be companyfined to a the agitations in the regions of Garhwal and Kumaun, and to include the Muzafarnagar incident, b the matters companynected with the agitations for Uttarakhanad only, c companysequential detentions of the agitationists, da the agitators detained, e details of injuries, deaths and molestation of women, and f damage to property, as a companysequence of these agitations within the aforesaid regions.
The CBI took up investigation pursuant to the said directions and laid charge sheet against certain officers on 19 1 1995 for offences under Sections 109 and 120 B read with Sections 341 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code.
Rs.10 lakhs each were given to the victims of molestation, Rs.
On 9 2 1996 the Division Bench of the High Court of Allahabad Ravi S. Dhawan and A.B. Srivastava, JJ disposed of the first mentioned writ petition filed by the Samity holding, inter alia, that numbersanction of the Government is required under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for short the Code for prosecuting the officials as for any of the offences companymitted by them while resisting the rallysts.
There was a stir in support of the demand for a separate State of Uttarakhand companyprising of certain hilly regions of the State of U.P. and some other areas.
The High Court did more than that.
THOMAS,J. Leave granted.
The agitationists fixed up the Gandhi Jayanti day in 1994 for staging a public rally at New Delhi for the twin objective of protesting against the numberification and to press the demand for the separate State.
SLPs are also filed against the judgment by which writ petitions were dismissed by the Lucknow Bench as having become infructuous.
