Apex Court throws out BJP plea for CBI probe in Mathura

A vacation bench of justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy said that it is not inclined to pass any order and asked the petitioner to approach the Allahabad High Court for a remedy. Petition was filed by lawyer and Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay.

The petitioner’s advocate had sought an urgent hearing saying the CBI probe was necessary, looking at the gravity of the violence. During the hearing, the petitioner argued that large scale violence has been reported in the city and evidences are being destroyed. The petitioner also said that the Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government was not recommending a CBI probe and the state investigating agencies were not doing their work properly.

Meanwhile in a related development, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday ordered a judicial probe into the recent Mathura violence hours after the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea seeking a CBI probe into the incident. Retired judge of Allahabad high court, Imtiyaz Murtaza will head the single member probe commission, an official spokesperson said in Lucknow.

The official spokesperson said that the Judicial Commission will submit its report in two months. The commission has been mandated to conduct the inquiry on six points of reference. Among other aspects it will find out the reasons why such a big incident occurred, the lapses on the part of police and intelligence failure if any. The commission has also been asked to look into the plan and preparedness of district administration and its effectiveness. 

Meanwhile the administrative inquiry by Aligarh commissioner has been disbanded. Earlier in New Delhi, the apex court bench said that petitioner Ashwini Upadhaya cannot approach the apex court through a PIL when a plea on similar issue is already pending before the Allahabad High Court. “You approach the Allahabad High Court for the remedy,” the bench said.

It further said it was not inclined to pass any order and courts cannot order a CBI probe as “a matter of routine as it is for the state government concerned to decide on the issue of handing over the probe to CBI”. It did not allow the submission of senior advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for Upadhaya, that the petition before the High Court was limited on the issue of encroachment of the park and that had nothing to do with the subsequent violence.