HC asks UP Govt to provide copies of charge sheets in Jawahar Bagh case

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to provide copies of charge sheets filed in connection with the Jawahar Bagh incident of Mathura to those who moved PILs seeking CBI inquiry.

The court ordered that the charge sheets be provided within two weeks to the petitioners who may file their rejoinders, if any, within a week thereafter.

It fixed October 3 as the next date of hearing in the matter. 

The Uttar Pradesh government submitted before the division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosale and Justice Yashwant Varma that charge sheets have been filed against 101 people at the district court of Mathura and that a single- member commission of inquiry comprising a retired judge of the high court too has completed its probe. 

Making the submissions, Advocate General Vijay Bahadur Singh said that in the light of the aforementioned facts, there was no need for a CBI inquiry into the illegal occupation of the public park for two years and the violence that erupted during the eviction of the squatters, killing a score of people, including two police officials. 

The court, however, asked the state government to provide copies of the aforesaid charge sheets to those who have moved PILs seeking a CBI inquiry. 

Appearing before the court, lead petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay - a BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer - alleged that while the Jawahar Bagh episode involved illegal occupation of 300 acres of public land for two years and recovery of a huge cache of arms and explosives from the site after eviction, many key persons were not being interrogated since they were close to the family of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.