The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to provide an update on the status of the case against Anant Kumar Singh, the former District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar, within 15 days. This directive was issued by Justice Pankaj Purohit during a hearing on Tuesday regarding the punishment of the accused in the Rampur Tiraha incident, which occurred on October 2, 1994, during the Uttarakhand statehood movement.
Petition Highlights Lack of Progress
On behalf of the petitioner, Raman Sah, it was submitted that the court had previously directed all parties to apprise it of the case status. However, no response was received from either the Uttar Pradesh government or the CBI. Consequently, the court ordered the CBI to inform it of the current status of the case. The petitioner argued that the status of the Anant Kumar Singh case remains unknown and has not been communicated to the court to date.
CBI's Submission and Court's Order
In response, the CBI submitted that before the formation of Uttarakhand, the case was heard in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court referred the matter for inquiry to the Allahabad High Court, which forwarded it to the Registrar of the Uttarakhand High Court. On their recommendation, all case files were transferred from the Dehradun court to Muzaffarnagar. The CBI requested time to ascertain what happened in the case thereafter. The court granted the CBI 15 days to apprise it of the status.
Background of the Case
Raman Sah, president of the Uttarakhand Andolankari Adhivakta Manch, had challenged in the High Court the order of the District Judge and Special Judge, CBI, Dehradun, transferring the case related to the Muzaffarnagar incident from Dehradun to the Muzaffarnagar court. According to the petitioner, on October 2, 1994, during the Uttarakhand movement, hundreds of Uttarakhandis traveling to Delhi were subjected to brutal treatment at Rampur Tiraha in Muzaffarnagar. Following a CBI investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the accused under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code in the Dehradun court, which took cognizance under Section 302.
Advocate Raman Sah had earlier filed a petition in the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court granted liberty to file the petition in the High Court, following which the matter was filed. Meanwhile, Anant Kumar Singh, the then District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar, is now retired.
