Court rejects victim’s application

A Magistrate court on Thursday rejected an application filed by the 1993 Hari Masjid firing victim Farook Mapkar, who had challenged the court's power to decide on a report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Through his lawyer Shakil Ahmed, Mapkar had argued that the validity of the report could be decided only by a special CBI court and not a magistrate. The CBI counsel filed a report in May this year, claiming that no evidence was found against policeman Nikhil Kapse, who was booked for firing on people offering prayers outside the Masjid. The CBI's report came four years after the Bombay High Court transferred the investigations to the agency.

Mapkar was allegedly fired at by the officer. The Justice B N Srikrishna Commission, which was looking into the 1992-93 riot cases, stated that Kapse had opened fire. In May, the CBI told the court that it is seeking closure of the case due to lack of credible evidence.

Ahmed objected the CBI's move and informed the court that in the presence of 23 independent witnesses, the agency should have carried out the investigation.

The police had also registered a case against those who had gathered for namaz. While many died of natural causes over the years, as many as 23 present during the firing have given their statements to the CBI.

"The court on Thursday rejected our application and will now decide if the the report filed by the CBI be accepted," Ahmed said.

The CBI took up the case in 2009.

The state government had moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the investigations.

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