Team News Riveting
Raipur, May 11
The Chhattisgarh High Court on Wednesday stayed the proceedings of re-constituted two-membered commission to probe the Jheeram Ghati Maoist ambush in 2013.
Twenty-seven people, including top Chhattisgarh Congress leaders Vidya Charan Shukla, Mahendra Karma, Nandkumar Patel and Uday Mudaliar were killed when Maoists ambush their convoy at Jheeram Ghati on the Sukma-Jagdalpur highway on May 25, 2013. On May 28, 2013, the then BJP government appointed a judicial commission, headed by Justice Prashant Mishra (then a judge in the Chhattisgarh High Court) to probe the matter.
Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Prashant Mishra submitted the report of the judicial inquiry commission to Chhattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uikey in November 2021. The ruling Congress questioned the submission of the report to the Governor, terming it against the established convention.
The issue created a political furore in Chhattisgarh as the BJP questioned Congress government’s alleged reluctance to table the report in the State Assembly. The BJP leaders claimed the government was concealing the findings of Justice Prashant Mishra.
Just five days after Justice Prashant Mishra submitted its report, Bhupesh Baghel government reconstituted the panel. The Chhattisgarh government appointed Justice Satish K. Agnihotri and Justice G. Minhazuddin, both former judges of the Chhattisgarh High Court, as chairman and member of the commission, respectively. They had been given a six-month deadline to complete the probe.
“Tenure of the commission was over on September 30, 2021. Commission Chairman Justice Prashant Mishra was transferred and has taken over as new chief justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court. Therefore, the state government has decided to nominate two new members in the commission” read the notification issued by the Chhattisgarh government Thursday.
The state government included three more points to be covered in the fresh probe, stating that the Justice Prashant Mishra commission report was incomplete.
Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik challenged the reconstitution of the panel on the ground that the report had been submitted and the state government was avoiding to table it on the floor of Legislative Assembly.
A division bench headed by Chhattisgarh High Court Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami today stayed the proceedings of the reconstituted commission. It had served notices to the state government and the commission seeking reply by July 4.
The next date of hearing has been posted for July 4.
