Pawar dubs Naroda Gam riot verdict as 'murder of rule of law, Constitution'

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar on Friday termed the recent acquittal of 69 accused in the 2002 Naroda Gam riot case as the "murder of rule of law and the Constitution."

Addressing a party meeting, Pawar said that the riots had taken place, there were deaths (11) and the accused ranged from ruling party leaders, MLAs and ministers, many of whom were arrested and enlarged on bail.

"Now, the court verdict has come, acquitting all the 69 accused in that incident. Along with the killings of the victims in those communal riots, even the judiciary and the Constitution have been murdered," Pawar said. Slamming the misuse of the central investigation agencies, he said that even in small villages for local disputes, people are now being threatened with ED. "The ED or CBI have become household names," he said.

A court in Gujarat on Thursday acquitted all surviving 67 accused in the case related to the killing of 11 Muslims during a riot in Ahmedabad's Naroda Gam area in 2002 in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning incident.

''The rule of law and Constitution have been murdered. This has been proved by yesterday's verdict,'' Pawar said.

Speaking on the Kharghar sunstroke deaths, the NCP chief accused the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government of negligence in the organisation of the award ceremony on April 16. Only a probe by a retired judge will fix responsibility for the tragedy, he said.

Pawar also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of misusing power to finish off opposition parties.

"(NCP leader) Anil Deshmukh was jailed for 13 months on allegations of taking bribes of Rs 100 crore, and in the charge sheet the probe agency described donations of Rs one and a half crore for his educational institution as a bribe. I also head several educational institutions, if I take donations for them, are they supposed to be bribes,'' he asked.

Nawab Malik, another NCP leader, was still languishing in jail, Pawar added.

"Fundamentalism is growing in the country and we need to stay alert. We have to fight back against it at any cost,'' he said.

(with PTI inputs)