"Don't Ask For Relief Which...": Court Rejects Plea Over Communal Clashes

A request for a judicial commission to probe the recent communal violence in Delhi's Jahangirpuri and in seven other states during Ram Navami was rejected by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai dismissed the plea filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari.

"You want an inquiry to be headed by former CJI (Chief Justice of India)? Is anybody free? Find out... What kind of relief is this... Don't ask for such reliefs which can't be granted by this court. Dismissed," the judges said.

Mr Tiwari, in his plea, had sought directions to hold an inquiry into the clashes that took place in Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat during Ram Navami.

The Public Interest Litigation also sought directions to set up a similar committee to inquire into the arbitrary action of 'bulldozer Justice' in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

"Such actions are absolutely discriminatory and do not fit into the notion of democracy and rule of law," the petition said.

Earlier this month, people from two communities clashed during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri. Eight policemen and a civilian were injured in the violence. Delhi Police have arrested 27 people so far in the case.

Following the clashes, bulldozers tore down several concrete and temporary structures close to a mosque in the area last week as part of an anti-encroachment drive by the BJP-ruled civic body in a move that was stopped by the Supreme Court.

Before that, communal clashes broke out in five states - Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal - during the celebrations of Ram Navami, the festival which marks the birth of Lord Ram.