Godhra

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Rlys to Godhra judge Justice Banerjee: go on foreign study tour</b>
VINAY JHA    
June 15, 2005
Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story....t_id=72641

Justice Banerjee NEW DELHI, JUNE 14: In January this year, he rubbished any conspiracy behind the Godhra train attack—which touched off one of the worst communal riots in recent memory—claiming that the Sabarmati Express fire was ‘‘accidental,’’ had no ‘‘external input.’’ And was possibly caused by cooking inside the S-6 coach, even cigarette stubs.

Now Justice (retd) U C Banerjee is set to take off for a 10-day, four-nation tour in Europe and Japan to look into ‘‘advanced rail systems.’’ And even ‘‘overcrowding’’ and ‘‘unauthorised passengers’’ in countries such as the <b>UK, France, Germany and Japan</b>. The Japan leg is for later, ‘‘if necessary,’’ sources said.

The trip—awaiting an OK from the Committee of Secretaries—is scheduled from June 29. Officially, it came as a suggestion from the Railway Board.

In a note to Justice Banerjee, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, Secretary, Railway Board, M K Agarwal, wrote that the committee’s role was not restricted to investigating the cause of the fire. But also to look into issues like ‘‘overcrowding and unauthorised passengers in the train, remedial and preventive actions needed to avoid such incidents in future.’’

‘‘Before finalising its report, the committee may take a view as to whether it would be necessary to visit some railway systems abroad to have a first-hand knowledge,’’ Agarwal said.

In his response, Justice Banerjee left it to the Ministry of Railways to decide on the countries that could be visited, the itinerary and the list of persons who would travel with him if the ministry felt it “desirable” that the committee conduct a “comparative study.’’

The Banerjee committee was constituted on September 4, 2004, following a UPA Cabinet decision to inquire into the Sabarmati Express fire. Its three-month term was twice extended by another three months.

For the BJP and the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, this couldn’t have been better timed. Just last week, the state government rejected the POTA review committee’s recommendation that the Godhra accused shouldn’t be tried under the terrorism law. Also, it has alleged that Banerjee’s clean chit had come without talking to police officers dealing with the Godhra case.

In his interim report, Banerjee had found it “unbelievable that kar sevaks (to the extent of 90 percent of the total occupants) armed with trishuls (tridents), would allow to get themselves burnt without a murmur by miscreant activity like a person entering S-6 coach from outside and setting the coach on fire”.

The Gujarat police said that the committee did not take into account the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report which said that 60 litres of inflammable liquid were used in the fire.

Justice Banerjee visited Godhra twice during the inquiry but failed to go to Signal Falia, where the mob allegedly attacked the train. He also did not meet the state’s Special Investigation Team.

So far, 10 chargesheets have been filed in the Sabarmati attack case, the last one on January 4, 2005. The trial has been stayed by the Supreme Court. As many as 106 were arrested in the case, 14 were released by the POTA court as police failed to submit evidence and chargesheet them, and 16 have been released on bail. The 76 others are in Sabarmati Central Jail, where they have been for the last two and a half years. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Laloo pay off to traitor liar Banerjee.