COMMISSIONS & COMMITTEES
Previous commisssions and committees of enquiry into the Delhi massacres
1. Marwah Commission : This Commission was appointed in November, 1984. Mr. Ved Marwah, Additional Commissioner of Police was assigned the job of enquirying into the role of police during the carnage of November, 1984. Mr. Marwah almost completed his enquiry towards the middle of 1985, when he was directed by the Central Government not to proceed further, as Misra Commission was appointed by then. Complete records of Marwah Commission were taken over by the Government and were later transferred to Misra Commission. However, most important part of the record namely the handwritten notes of Mr. Ved Marwah, which contained important information, were not transferred to Misra Commission.
2. Misra Commission of Enquiry was appointed in May, 1985. Justice Rang Nath Misra, was a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Misra submitted his report in August, 1986 and the report was made public six months thereafter in February, 1987. In his report, Misra stated that it is not part of his terms of reference to identify any person and recommended formation of three Committees. There was only one term of reference to this Commission, i.e. Whether the violence was organized?
The case of the victims was presented before Misra Commission by Citizens Justice Committee, a body constituted for this specific purpose, comprising Justice S.M. Sikri, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India as its President, Justice V.M. Tarkunde, former Judge of the Bombay High Court, Mr. Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General, Mr. Khushwant Singh, eminent journalist, Justice R.S. Narula, former Chief Justice of Punjab &Haryana High Court, Lt. Gen. J.S. Arora, Prof. Rajni Kothari, President, PUCL, Mr. Govinda Mukhotey, President, PUDR and others. Mr. H.S. Phoolka, Advocate, was the Member Secretary of this Committee, who appeared before the commission and was also incharge of the affairs of the Committee.
3. Kapur Mittal Committee was appointed in February, 1987 on the recommendation of Misra Commission to enquire into the role of police, which job the Marwah Committee had almost completed in 1985 itself, when the Government asked that Committee to wind up and not proceed further. After almost two years, this Committee was appointed for the same purpose. This Committee consisted of Justice Dalip Kapur and Mrs. Kusum Mittal, retired Secretary of U.P. This Committee submitted its report in 1990. 72 police officers were identified for their connivance or gross negligence. The Committee recommended forthwith dismissal of 30 police officers out of 72. However, till date, not a single police officer has been awarded any kind of punishment. Rather, each one of them have got two or three promotions thereafter. One such police officer is presently Special Commissioner of Police in Delhi Police and the other is Joint Commissioner of Police. There are about 15 Assistant Commissioners of Police presently serving in Delhi Police.
4. Jain Banerjee Committee : This Committee was recommended by Misra Commission for recommending registration of cases. This committee consisted of Justice M.L. Jain, Former Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr. A.K. Banerjee, Retired IGP. Misra Commission held in its report that a large number of cases have not been registered and wherever the victims named political leaders or police officers, the cases were not registered against them. This Committee recommended registration of cases against Mr. Sajjan Kumar in August, 1987, but no case was registered. In November, 1987 many press reports appeared for not registering cases inspite of recommendation of the Committee. In December 1987, one of the co-accused along with Mr. Sajjan Kumar namely Mr. Brahmanand Gupta filed a Writ Petition in Delhi High Court and obtained a stay against this Committee. The Government did not oppose the stay. Citizens Justice Committee filed an application for vacating the stay. Ultimately, the Writ Petition was decided in August, 1989 and the High Court quashed appointment of this Committee. An appeal was filed by Citizens Justice Committee in Supreme Court.
5. Potti Rosha Committee was appointed in March, 1990 as a successor to Jain Banerjee Committee. This Committee also recommended registration of cases against Sajjan Kumar.
6. Jain Aggarwal Committee was appointed in Deccember, 1990 as a successor to Potti Rosha Committee, consisting of Justice J.D. Jain, retired Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr. D.K. Aggarwal, retired DGP of U.P. This Committee recommended registration of cases against HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Dharamdas Shastri and Jagdish Tytler. This Committee was wound up in August, 1993. However, the cases recommended by this Committee were not even registered by the Police.
7. Ahuja Committee was the third Committee recommended by Misra Commission to ascertain the total number of killings in Delhi . This Committee submitted its report in August, 1987 and gave a figure of 2733 as the number of Sikhs killed in Delhi alone.
8. Dhillon Committee headed by Gurdial Singh Dhillon was appointed in 1985 to recommend measure for rehabilitation of the victims. This Committee submitted its report by the end of 1985. One of the major recommendations of this Committee was that the business establishments, which had insurance cover, but whose insurance claims were not settled by insurance companies on the technical ground that riot is not covered under the insurance, should be paid compensation under the directions of the Government. This Committee recommended that since all insurance companies were nationalized, they be directed to pay the claims. However, the Governmment did not accept this recommendation and as a result insurance claims were rejected by all the insurance companies through out the country.
9. Narula Committee was appointed in December, 1993 by Madan Lal Khurana Government in Delhi . This Committee submitted its report in January, 1994 and recommended registration of cases against Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler.
10. Nanavati Commission was appointed by an unanimous resolution passed in the Rajya Sabha. This Commission is headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India. This Commission issued notices to HKL Bhagat former Union Minister, Sajjan Kumar, former Member of Parliament, Dharamdas Shastri, former Member of Parliament, Kamal Nath (presently Union Commerce Minister) and Jagdish Tytler (presently Union State Minister for NRI Affairs).
2. Misra Commission of Enquiry was appointed in May, 1985. Justice Rang Nath Misra, was a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Misra submitted his report in August, 1986 and the report was made public six months thereafter in February, 1987. In his report, Misra stated that it is not part of his terms of reference to identify any person and recommended formation of three Committees. There was only one term of reference to this Commission, i.e. Whether the violence was organized?
The case of the victims was presented before Misra Commission by Citizens Justice Committee, a body constituted for this specific purpose, comprising Justice S.M. Sikri, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India as its President, Justice V.M. Tarkunde, former Judge of the Bombay High Court, Mr. Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General, Mr. Khushwant Singh, eminent journalist, Justice R.S. Narula, former Chief Justice of Punjab &Haryana High Court, Lt. Gen. J.S. Arora, Prof. Rajni Kothari, President, PUCL, Mr. Govinda Mukhotey, President, PUDR and others. Mr. H.S. Phoolka, Advocate, was the Member Secretary of this Committee, who appeared before the commission and was also incharge of the affairs of the Committee.
3. Kapur Mittal Committee was appointed in February, 1987 on the recommendation of Misra Commission to enquire into the role of police, which job the Marwah Committee had almost completed in 1985 itself, when the Government asked that Committee to wind up and not proceed further. After almost two years, this Committee was appointed for the same purpose. This Committee consisted of Justice Dalip Kapur and Mrs. Kusum Mittal, retired Secretary of U.P. This Committee submitted its report in 1990. 72 police officers were identified for their connivance or gross negligence. The Committee recommended forthwith dismissal of 30 police officers out of 72. However, till date, not a single police officer has been awarded any kind of punishment. Rather, each one of them have got two or three promotions thereafter. One such police officer is presently Special Commissioner of Police in Delhi Police and the other is Joint Commissioner of Police. There are about 15 Assistant Commissioners of Police presently serving in Delhi Police.
4. Jain Banerjee Committee : This Committee was recommended by Misra Commission for recommending registration of cases. This committee consisted of Justice M.L. Jain, Former Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr. A.K. Banerjee, Retired IGP. Misra Commission held in its report that a large number of cases have not been registered and wherever the victims named political leaders or police officers, the cases were not registered against them. This Committee recommended registration of cases against Mr. Sajjan Kumar in August, 1987, but no case was registered. In November, 1987 many press reports appeared for not registering cases inspite of recommendation of the Committee. In December 1987, one of the co-accused along with Mr. Sajjan Kumar namely Mr. Brahmanand Gupta filed a Writ Petition in Delhi High Court and obtained a stay against this Committee. The Government did not oppose the stay. Citizens Justice Committee filed an application for vacating the stay. Ultimately, the Writ Petition was decided in August, 1989 and the High Court quashed appointment of this Committee. An appeal was filed by Citizens Justice Committee in Supreme Court.
5. Potti Rosha Committee was appointed in March, 1990 as a successor to Jain Banerjee Committee. This Committee also recommended registration of cases against Sajjan Kumar.
6. Jain Aggarwal Committee was appointed in Deccember, 1990 as a successor to Potti Rosha Committee, consisting of Justice J.D. Jain, retired Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr. D.K. Aggarwal, retired DGP of U.P. This Committee recommended registration of cases against HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Dharamdas Shastri and Jagdish Tytler. This Committee was wound up in August, 1993. However, the cases recommended by this Committee were not even registered by the Police.
7. Ahuja Committee was the third Committee recommended by Misra Commission to ascertain the total number of killings in Delhi . This Committee submitted its report in August, 1987 and gave a figure of 2733 as the number of Sikhs killed in Delhi alone.
8. Dhillon Committee headed by Gurdial Singh Dhillon was appointed in 1985 to recommend measure for rehabilitation of the victims. This Committee submitted its report by the end of 1985. One of the major recommendations of this Committee was that the business establishments, which had insurance cover, but whose insurance claims were not settled by insurance companies on the technical ground that riot is not covered under the insurance, should be paid compensation under the directions of the Government. This Committee recommended that since all insurance companies were nationalized, they be directed to pay the claims. However, the Governmment did not accept this recommendation and as a result insurance claims were rejected by all the insurance companies through out the country.
9. Narula Committee was appointed in December, 1993 by Madan Lal Khurana Government in Delhi . This Committee submitted its report in January, 1994 and recommended registration of cases against Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler.
10. Nanavati Commission was appointed by an unanimous resolution passed in the Rajya Sabha. This Commission is headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India. This Commission issued notices to HKL Bhagat former Union Minister, Sajjan Kumar, former Member of Parliament, Dharamdas Shastri, former Member of Parliament, Kamal Nath (presently Union Commerce Minister) and Jagdish Tytler (presently Union State Minister for NRI Affairs).