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Shivraj Patil tables Nanavati Report on anti-Sikh riots
by Pankaj Yadav

      New Delhi: Home Minister Shivraj Patil tabled the Justice G.T.Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots along with an Action Taken Report (ATR) in Parliament on Monday. According to the report, the former Lt. Governor of Delhi T.G. Gavai and then Acting Commissioner of Police S C Tandon were declared guilty of not taking appropriate action to control the riots. It said that Gavai had failed to act in time, and called in the army three days after the riots broke out. The 185-page report and its attached annexures, however, has given a clean chit to incumbent Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, but said that the seven cases against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar should be investigated. In so far as the Cabinet Minister for NRI/PIO Affairs, JagdishTytler, is concerned, the commission said that he was most probably involved, but added that no action could be taken against him as their was still doubt over his role in the incident.

     Tytler, however, categorically denied any role in the incident. While recording 5,700 statements, the commission also said that veteran Congress leader H.K.L.Bhagat also colluded in the riots, but was not being persecuted on grounds of poor health. The commission has recommended that the Government of India give Rs. 3.5 lakh (7778 dollars) as compensation to the dependents of each of the dead, besides considering proposals for their employment and rehabilitation. The Justice Nanavati Commission was appointed on May 8, 2000 by the then NDA government to probe the incident that took place across the country on and after October 31, 1984 following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her personal bodyguards, acting in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar in June 1984. Justice Nanavati had submitted the two-volume report to Patil, on February 9 this year. The commission had cross-examined close to 200 witnesses and accepted over 10,000 affidavits in the past four years. Following Indira Gandhi's assassination, the next four days saw nearly 3000 Sikhs being massacred in systematic riots planned and led by Congress activists and symphathizers. The then Congress government was widely criticized for doing very little at the time, if not acting as an conspirator, especially since voting lists were used to identify Sikh families.

     The then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, said "When a big tree falls, the earth is bound to shake" on the Sikh carnage. His widow, Sonia Gandhi and current President of the Congress Party, officially apologized in 1998 for the events of November, 1984. The most affected regions were neighborhoods in Delhi. The riots were a key antagonist in the subsequent Punjab insurgency. Numerous commissions were set up to investigate the riots. However, many of the prime accused were acquitted or never charge-sheeted. According to one paper, nine commissions and committees were appointed to inquire into the riots. Justice Rangnath Mishra headed the first commission on the riots, and its report was widely criticized as biased and a miscarriage of justice. Several of the primary accused, including former and current Cabinet ministers Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath, Sajan Kumar and H.K.L. Bhagat are still at large and Jagdish Tytler is a Union Minister for NRI affairs in the Congress-led UPA goverment. The 20th anniversary of the Sikh riots was observed in November 2004. On Friday, when the issue was raised by BJP Deputy Leader V K Malhotra, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said he had spoken to the Home Minister Shivraj Patil who had informed him that it will be done on Monday.

     The Union Cabinet had earlier approved the Action Taken Report (ATR) of the Government on the recommendations of the Nanavati Commission. The commission was given four points of reference on which to conduct its inquiry. It was mandated to enquire into the causes and course of the criminal violence and riots targeting members of the Sikh community; the sequence of events leading to and all the facts relating to such violence and riots; whether these heinous crimes could have been averted and whether there were any lapses or dereliction of duty on the part of any of the responsible authorities; to enquire into the adequacy of the administrative measures taken to prevent and to deal with the violence and the riots; and to recommend measures which may be adopted to meet the ends of the justice. The Commission was to submit its report to the Home Minister on January 31 when its term had expired but it could not as Patil was visiting the North-Eastern States then. The commission's founding legislation empowered the probe to fix the responsibility for any lapses or dereliction of duty on the part of the authorities in taking steps to prevent the incidents. The first sitting of the Commission was held on October 3, 2000. The term of the Commission was to expire on April 2, 2001 but it was extended from time to time. Its tenth and last extension was granted for a period of one month up to January 31, 2005 with the approval of the Cabinet. Several prominent Congress leaders, including the former Prime Minister, P V Narasimha Rao, had deposed before the Commission. Others who deposed before the commission included former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, writer Khushwant Singh, Janata Dal (United ) leader Jaya Jaitly, BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana, feminist author Madhu Kishwar, former eastern Army commander late Lt.General Jagjit Singh Aurora, former diplomat Patwant Singh, Justice R S Narula and rights activist Swami Agnivesh.

Highlights of Nanavati report and Govt's Action Taken Report (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The following are the highlights of the Nanavati Commission Report and the Action Taken Report presented by the Government.

     The Commission considers that there is credible evidence against Jagdish Tytler to the effect that very probably he had a hand in organising attacks on Sikhs. Action Taken Report: Commission not absolutely sure so it may be pointed out that in criminal cases, a person cannot be prosecuted simply on the basis of "probability". The Commission recommends to the Government to examine those cases where the witnesses have accused Sajjan Kumar specifically and yet no charge sheets were filed against him.

    Action Taken Report: Out of the seven such cases, two do not relate to 1984 riots. On others Government has presented factual position.

     In the absence of better evidence it is not possible for the Commission to say that he (Kamal Nath) had in any manner instigated the mob or that the was involved in the attack on a Gurudwara. There was a colossal failure of maintenance of law and order and as the head of the Police Force, he (Commissioner of Police S.C. Tandon) has to be held responsible for the failure. The attitude of the police force was callous and that he (Tandon) did not remain properly informed about what was happening in the city.

     Action Taken Report: The Government would take necessary actions to make police force more efficient. Tandon was replaced on 12.11.1984 and he has since retired.

     Explanation given by Lt. Governor P.G.Gavai is not satisfactory and does not convince the Commission in recording the finding that there was no lapse at his level. It does appear to the Commission that he did not give as much importance to the law and order situation in Delhi as the situation demanded.

     Action Taken Report: The Government had taken immediate administrative action. Gavai was replaced by M.M.K. Wali as LG of Delhi on 4th November, 1984.

     The Commission points out delay in calling the army.

     Action Taken Report: The Governement accepts these views and will take necessary actions.

     The Commission recommends that the Government of India and the state Governments should see that all the affected persons throughout the country are paid adequate compensation on an uniform basis as some States have paid compensation of Rs. 3, 50, 000 for the loss of life to the dependents of persons killed.

     Action Taken Report - The Government has accepted these recommendations.

     The Commission also recommends that the Government should consider providing employment to one member of that family if that family has lost all its earning male members and it has no other sufficient means of livelihood. There was no delay or indifference at the level of the Home Minister There is absolutely no evidence suggesting that Shri Rajiv Gandhi or any other high ranking Congress (I) leader had suggested or organized attacks on Sikhs. Whatever acts were done, were done by the local Congress (I) leaders and workers, and they appear to have done so for their personal political reasons. Either the police were negligent in performance of their duties or they had directly or indirectly helped the mobs in their violent attacks on the Sikhs. Anti-social elements had exploited the situation  The Commission's tenure was increased nine times. The Commission is of the view that there is credible evidence against Shri Dharam Das Shastri who was a local Congress (I) leader.

     Action Taken Report - The Government would examine the factual position as Shastri was not named as an accused in the case concerned.

Lok Sabha adjourned over Nanavati report disclosures (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were adjourned on Monday after the opposition trooped into the Well of the House to register their protest over the contents of the Justice G.T.Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Shortly after Home Minister tabled the report and the accompanying Action taken Report (ATR) of the Government, pandemonium broke out in the Lower House of the Indian Parliament with former Punjab Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his supporters, most of them Sikhs, shouting slogans aginst the report and the Government. Trooping into the Well of the House, Badal and other members of the opposition demanded that the Government take action against Jagdish Tytler, the Cabinet Minister for NRI/PIO Affairs, whom the Nanavati Report all but exonerated. They claimed that Tytler had a very significant role to play in the perpetration of the riots that claimed over 3,000 Sikh lives, and left hundreds of thousands of Sikh families homeless and without bread winners. They said most of these families were still struggling to make ends meet after 21 years of suffering. According to the Nanavati Commission, there is cause for declaring Tytler guilty of taking part in the riots, but as there was not enough evidence to back this claim, he could not be proceeded against. Tytler, however, said that he had role to play in the incident.

1984 riots couldn't have occurred without local leaders: Nanavati  (Go To Top)
by Vrishti Beniwal

     New Delhi: There is credible evidence that local Congress leaders participated in 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and now it is for the Government to take action on that, said Justice G.T. Nanavati, whose report about the riots was tabled in Parliament today by Home Minister Shivraj Patil. "There is credible evidence that hadn't local leaders organised the whole thing, riots of such a big magnitude would not have occurred. The Commission's job was to look into the matter and record its findings. So, my job is over. The Action Taken Report (ATR) is for the Government to take action," Nanavati told reporters at his residence here. When asked about the use of words like "may be" and "possibly" in the report, Justice Nanavati said that evidences were not very clear, because FIRs were not written properly and investigations were not conducted in a proper manner. Therefore, there is a need for further investigation. He also denied conducting the inquiry under any kind of political pressure and said, "A commission conducts inquiry objectively and independently, and therefore, the question of my satisfaction doesnt arise." Asked about the relevance of commissions, Justice Nanavati said that the report is for the public to consider. "It is for their benefit. It is to educate the public, because they can't conduct inquires on their own," he said. The report was tabled today along with the Action Taken Report (ATR) on the last day of the expiry of the six-month deadline for its presentation in Parliament. It has pointed a finger of suspicion at Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and H K L Bhagat and some other local leaders. The Action Taken Report (ATR) was approved by the Union Cabinet last week. Justice Nanavati, who is a retired judge of the Supreme Court, headed the Commission that had submitted the report to Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, on February 9 this year. The commission was appointed on May 8, 2000 by the then NDA government. It is the ninth in a series of investigations into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that took place in Delhi and other parts of the country on and after October 31, 1984 following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her personal bodyguards, both of them Sikhs.

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