Koregaon Bhima case: Lack of suitable place in Mumbai suspends inquiry hearings
Initially, the Commission was given a four-month time to submit its report, but due to the pandemic its tenure had to be extended repeatedly to allow it to complete its work.
FollowThe Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry has suspended all future hearings till the Maharashtra government provides a suitable place to conduct the hearings. A hearing was proposed from November 8 to November 12 at Mumbai.
The letter stated that the Commission has requested the government to provide suitable accommodation in Mumbai at the earliest and had also informed the Government about the proposed hearing scheduled from November 8 to November 12, 2021.
The letter added further that it was also made clear that the Commission would suspend its hearing schedules if suitable accommodation is not provided by 29th October 2021. Unfortunately, nothing was heard from the government till 31st October 2021 about the availability of suitable accommodation.
As per the letter, therefore, there is no other option before the Commission but to suspend the hearing schedule till the government provides suitable accommodation to the Commission.
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The two-member commission formed by the government and headed by retired Justice JN Patel is probing into the cause of Koregaon Bhima violence of January 1, 2018, in which one person was killed and several others were injured.
Initially, the Commission was given a four-month time to submit its report, but due to the pandemic its tenure had to be extended repeatedly to allow it to complete its work. The Commission has now been given time till December 31, 2021 to submit the report.
The Commission had also recently issued summons to IPS officers Param Bir Singh and Rashmi Shukla during its recent hearing in Pune to appear as witnesses. Both have been asked to respond to the summons by November 8.
Param Bir Singh was the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) when the Koregaon Bhima violence took place, however he is currently untraceable. Meanwhile, Rashmi Shukla was the Pune Police Commissioner during the violence and is currently the Additional Director General of CRPF (South Zone), Hyderabad.
