Recalling mass killings during the Partition, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the 1993 Mumbai riots, the 2002 Gujarat riots, the 2008 Kandhamal riots and the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
Recalling mass killings during the Partition, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the 1993 Mumbai riots, the 2002 Gujarat riots, the 2008 Kandhamal riots and the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
The Delhi High Court Monday said common to these was the “targeting of minorities and attacks spearheaded by the dominant political actors being facilitated by the law enforcement agencies”.
Devoting an entire section of the judgment in the Sajjan Kumar case to crimes against humanity, the bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said it was a challenge to bring criminals in such cases to justice.
Demanding a stronger legal system, they said, “Neither ‘crimes against humanity’ nor ‘genocide’ is part of our domestic law of crime. This loophole Gujarat 2002 to Muzaffarnagar 2013: ‘Political patronage to mass killings’ needs to be addressed urgently.”
“There has been a familiar pattern of mass killings in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002, in Kandhamal, Odisha in 2008, in Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013 to name a few… The criminals responsible for the mass crimes have enjoyed political patronage and managed to evade prosecution and punishment,” the bench said.
The Delhi High Court Monday said common to these was the “targeting of minorities and attacks spearheaded by the dominant political actors being facilitated by the law enforcement agencies”.
Devoting an entire section of the judgment in the Sajjan Kumar case to crimes against humanity, the bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said it was a challenge to bring criminals in such cases to justice.
Demanding a stronger legal system, they said, “Neither ‘crimes against humanity’ nor ‘genocide’ is part of our domestic law of crime. This loophole Gujarat 2002 to Muzaffarnagar 2013: ‘Political patronage to mass killings’ needs to be addressed urgently.”
“There has been a familiar pattern of mass killings in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002, in Kandhamal, Odisha in 2008, in Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013 to name a few… The criminals responsible for the mass crimes have enjoyed political patronage and managed to evade prosecution and punishment,” the bench said.