Lucknow: A judicial probe has been ordered into the Sambhal violence that will be led by a retired High Court judge, and will have a retired IAS and retired IPS officer as members. Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel constituted the three-member panel to investigate the stone pelting and violence that rocked Sambhal recently.
According to the order, the committed will be headed by Justice Devendra Kumar Arora (Retired), Allahabad High Court, and has retired IAS Amit Mohan Prasad and retired IPS Arvind Kumar Jain as its members. The commission has two months to submit its report, the order stated.
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Chaos occurred during the Archeological Survey of India's (ASI) examination of a Mughal-era mosque in the area on November 24. This led to stone pelting and violence leading to the death of four persons while several others were injured including officials.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will on Friday also hear a petition on the matter filed by the Committee of Management of Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. The top court has been moved against the November 19 order of the local court for the survey of the mosque.
A bench led-by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the petition of the Sambhal Jama Masjid on Friday.
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What Governor Order Said
The UP Governor in her order said that to ensure transparency and quality of inquiry, in exercising the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (Act No. 60 of 1952), "the Governor hereby constitutes the following three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission to be headed by Justice Devendra Kumar Arora (Retired), High Court, Allahabad."
According to it, the panel will submit a report on whether the incident was planned or a "sudden" event, It would also mention whether the law and order arrangements made by the District Administration and police were effective.
"The Commission will examine the aforesaid incident that happened on November 24 and submit a report on whether the incident was sudden or was well planned and the result of a criminal conspiracy. To inquire into the arrangements made by the District Administration and Police to maintain law and order during the incident and other aspects related," the order further said.
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"To ascertain the reasons and circumstances due to which the said incident took place. To give suggestions regarding non- recurrence of such type of incidents in future. Whereas, the Governor is also of the opinion that having regard to the nature of the inquiry in question and other circumstances relating to the case, it is necessary to do so, she hereby further directs under sub-section (1) of section 5 of the said Act that the provisions of sub-sections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the said section 5 shall apply to this commission. The Commission shall complete the inquiry within a period of two months from the date of the issue of this notification. Any change in its tenure shall be at the behest of the Government," it said.
What Is Sambhal Case That SC Will Hear Today
The Committee of Management of Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh in its plea said that the report of the survey commissioner should be kept in a sealed cover. It has asked the apex court to order the maintenance of the status quo until the final resolution of the present petition.
"Surveys should not be ordered and executed as a matter of course in cases involving disputes over places of worship without hearing all parties and allowing sufficient time to the aggrieved persons to seek judicial remedies against the order of survey," it stated, quoted a PTI report.
The ASI team went to Sambhal after a civil judge on November 19 directed the court commissioner to survey the mosque and file the report in court.