UP govt failed to prevent Muzaffarnagar riots, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the plea for a CBI or SIT probe into the Muzaffarnagar communal riots that took place in September 2013. The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam said that if the centre and the state intelligence agencies had smelled of what was happening at the ground level, then the riots could have been prevented. Declining the prayer for CBI/SIT probe, the court referred to a number of steps that the state police has taken to deal with the situation and the subsequent actions. [caption id=“attachment_1451215” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Victims of Muzaffarnagar riots. Reuters.[/caption] “We prima facie hold state government responsible for negligence in preventing communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas,” the Supreme Court said. The court said that the state had failed to protect the serious violation of fundamental rights of the people and said it was duty-bound to protect and uphold the people’s rights. In a reference to a state government circular saying that the relief would be available to Muslim victims only, the court in one of its several directions said that the availability of relief should not be on the basis of victim’s religious denomination and it should be provided to genuine victims. SC also directed the UP government to give police protection to victim families till completion of trial. All accused persons named in  uzaffarnagar communal violence cases must be arrested irrespective of their political affiliation, the court directed. IANS and inputs from PTI