2002 riots: Gujarat assembly 'misinformed' about dereliction of duty, says ex-DGP

By Rajiv Shah 
Former Gujarat topcop RB Sreekumar, an IPS officer of the 1971 batch, has alleged that the Gujarat government gave “totally false information” on the floor of the State Assembly regarding the appeal he made to the Gujarat governor for the “initiation of departmental action against those responsible for culpable negligence in maintenance of public order and investigation of genocidal crimes” during the 2002 riots.
While Sreekumar made his appeal to in 2012, the Gujarat governor sent four reminders to the State home department for the initiation of action, if any, between 2013 and 2015. The State government had informed the house that he received no directions from the governor.
Providing documentary evidence on his appeal and the Gujarat governor’s subsequent reminders on action taken report, Sreekumar, in an email alert to Counterview, said, in an answer to a LAQ (Legislative Assembly Question) by two MLAs (Kantibhai Sodha Parmar and Punambhai Parmar), the State home department supplied “totally false information” on the floor of the Assembly, denying that it had received any direction from the Gujarat governor regarding his representation.
Sreekumar, who was restored his promotion as DGP following his litigation in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and the Gujarat High Court, added, “It is a clear case of breach of privilege in the Assembly. Can we expect some MLA to take up this breach of privilege issue in the Assembly or otherwise?”
The “genocidal crimes” Sreekumar refers to are regarding the information he provided in the nine affidavits he submitted before the Justice Nanavati Commission which was probing into the protracted communal riots in Gujarat State in 2002 -- four of which when he was in service, and five afterwards.
While the Commission submitted its final report in 2014, giving the Gujarat government under Modi clean chit. The report was made public in December 2019.

In his 12-page representation to the Gujarat governor on December 12, 2012, Sreekumar says, his affidavits had “provided in depth information on the culpable role” of the Gujarat State bureaucracy and police, including the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Among those whom Sreekumar blames in his representation for “dereliction of duty” include two Gujarat chief secretaries, three additional chief secretaries, and two Cabinet ministers, IK Jadeja and Ashok Bhatt (click here for details).

In reply to RTI plea on Gujarat governor's directions, Sreekumar was told information sought on 2002 riots is exempted from releasing to public

Sreekumar had alleged they were “culpable” in planning and execution of “anti-minority carnage in 2002, manipulation and subversion of the Criminal Justice System in the State to deny and delay justice delivery to riot victim survivors, and illegal acts and misconduct by State Home Department Officials and government pleader to impede the flow of evidence to the Commission.”
On January 1, 2013, the Gujarat governor’s office acknowledged receipt of Sreekumar’s representation, stating that it has been forwarded to the additional chief secretary (ACS), State home department, for “appropriate action.” The governor’s office added, it had also asked the ACS to “report about action taken or proposed to be taken by the government on the issues involved” in the representation.
This was followed by three more reminders to the ACS (home) on action, if any, taken by the State home department, based on the facts provided in Sreekumar’s representation  – on May 8, 2014, January 11, 2015, and May 5, 2015.
On July 21, 2021, Sreekumar, in a fresh letter to Gujarat governor Acharya Devvrat, again requested to inform him if “appropriate action” has been taken, as he has been told in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) plea that that “the information asked for is exempted from releasing to the public vide Home Department resolution No. SB.I/102001/8203/GOI/62 (part file) dated October 25, 2005.”