Activists and lawyers plan to challenge the stay on a CBI probe in the 1993 Hari Masjid firing case, a ruling that followed a volte-face by the state government.

The government had filed a special leave petition, following which the Supreme Court ordered a stay on the CBI probe ordered by the Bombay High Court. It was the state government itself that had issued a notification for handing over the case to the CBI.

Advocate Shakil Ahmed, one of those who have been tracking the state government’s promise to implement the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission report into the firing, said, “We have to study the state’s petition and prepare the grounds for our challenge.”

The case pertains to an incident during the 1992-1993 communal riots in Mumbai. Police sub-inspector Nikhil Kapse was indicted by the Srikrishna Commission for unjustified firing at devotees inside the Hari Masjid in Wadala.

It was under pressure that the government had handed over the case to the CBI in the first place. Its notification had said it had given consent to hand over the inquiry “pursuant to the direction of the Bombay High Court”. Following this, the court hauled up the government, pointing out that it was the government which told the court that it was ready to hand over the probe. The state was made to submit a rectified proposal in February 2008.

Now, however, the government has submitted before the Supreme Court that the “state has already initiated all essential action against Nikhil Kapse and there is no need for an independent enquiry” as he has already been given a clean chit. The government defended Kapse, saying that he has suffered enough in16 years and that he had been merely executing his duty.