MUMBAI, January 15: Justice Srikrishna has said that he is ready to submit his much-awaited report on the '92-93 riots in Mumbai. The statement came barely 12 hours after Chief Minister Manohar Joshi announced the extension of the Srikrishna Commission till April, way after the elections.``I hope to finish everything in a week's time. The final report will be submitted before the state government within this month,'' the judge said. However, he declined to comment whether the Sena-BJP government will prevent the contents reaching the public eye before elections and refused to speak about the implications of the report.
When Express Newsline spoke to LLAC (Lawyers for Legal Aid Committee) counsel Yusuf Muchala, he said that the state government is bound to make the report public immediately. ``If the government delays in making the document public, we will approach the court. If the government plays any game we will fight tooth and nail. Actually it would be incongruous on their part to hesitate as the
entire proceedings and cross-examinations of witnesses were held in public. So the report should also be made public as soon as the judge submits the report,'' he said. ``I personally feel both the Sena-BJP combine and Congress will try to scuttle the process. Sena's role in the riots and role of Naik's government during the riots were all obvious. Since elections are round the corner, both these parties will be embarrassed by the report,'' said Muchala. ``Though the commission will place the report before the government in confidence, the report is not a confidential document,'' said Muchala.
Sena counsel B D Joshi, however, said the government has to be given time to read the report before making it public. Manjula Rao, another senior counsel, said she didn't expect submission of the report so soon. The commission was constituted on January 24, 1993 by the then Congress government headed by Sudhakarrao Naik, following the communal riots which rocked the city after Babri Masjid demolition.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
