New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday ordered
deployment of CRPF at Mirchpur village in Haryana to protect
the witnesses till they record their testimonies in the case
relating to the killing of Dalits there in 2010.
"I now direct that CRPF deployment at village Mirchpur
should be made preferably near the spot of the incident i.e.
around the Balmiki Basti and should continue till such time
the public witnesses in the case are examined till further
orders of this court," Special Judge (SC/ST Act) Kamini Lau
said.
The court took exception to the belated deployment of
CRPF at the village where the community members of the
accused are protesting against the shifting of the trial from
Haryana to Delhi.
"CRPF deployment has also been made at the village by the
government of Haryana, though very belatedly, after agitation
of the dominant class had spread across the state. This
measure, no doubt, could have been taken earlier," it said.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed that the case
relating to the killing of a 70-year-old Dalit man and his
physically-challenged daughter allegedly by a mob of over 100
upper caste people be transferred to the special court here to
ensure a free and fair trial.
During the hearing, Lau came down heavily on Delhi
government for delay in appointing a special public prosecutor
to conduct the trial in the case.
"The manner in which government of NCT of Delhi has
unduly delayed the appointment/ notification of the Special
Prosecutor for no obvious reasons only reflects their
non-serious approach on the issue," the court said.
It directed the city government to appoint S P
Ahluwalia as special prosecutor, "in order to avoid any legal
conflict/ irregularity and confusion at a later stage" as he
has already been notified by Haryana government to conduct
the trial.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 01, 2011, 22:38