Justice Lokur-led panel on Delhi riots calls for submissions from public

New Delhi: The citizen's committee invited by the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) has now issued a public notice inviting people, in confidence, to come forward with any information and material pertaining to the Delhi riots of February, in as much detail as possible. Based on a perusal of this information, the Committee will invite persons for further interaction. The committee has assured that the identity of any and all persons will be kept confidential.

This Committee will collect and scrutinise primary material, including first-person accounts of those who have direct knowledge of the events, FIRs, charge-sheets and other documents prepared by government agencies, audio-visual and documentary material that have a bearing on matters under examination. They will also review secondary material including reports and accounts already in the public domain.

Formed by the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), this committee will inquire into the events that transpired before and during the riots, including the response of the state machinery in dealing with the violence, restoring law and order, and related matters. It will also analyse and assess the response of the police in investigating the riots. Additionally, it will examine the role of the mainstream and social media in spreading information, both genuine and fake, before, during and after the riots, and its impact. The committee will also assess the civic administration's efforts at providing relief and extending reparations to the victims of riots.

The CCG has said this committee is committed to independence, impartiality and transparency and ensuring that confidentiality of communications is protected.

The committee comprises Justice Madan B Lokur, former Supreme Court judge (Chairperson); Justice AP Shah, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts and former Chairman, Law Commission; Justice RS Sodhi, former judge of the Delhi High Court; Justice Anjana Prakash, former judge of the Patna High Court; GK Pillai, IAS (Retd.), former Home Secretary, Government of India; and Meeran Chadha Borwankar, IPS (Retd.), former Director-General, Bureau of Police Research and Development, Government of India.

Anyone looking to make submissions to the committee can send it in through https://www.citizenscommitteeondelhiriots.in/submission-form.