After the recent violence that broke out in Mumbai, the Bombay High Court had denied the transfer of the probe to CBI though the firing by the police on the mob is unaccetable. The HC said " It cannot be said that the investigations are biased".

Justices A M Khanwilkar and R Y Ganoo, the division bench of Judges, were  hearing a petition filed by Nazar Siddique, Shaikh Junaid Abdul Rashid and Akbar Raunak Ali Khan. The trio alleged that they were fired at for no good reason, after they had suffered minor inguries in the riots. They have been recovering at the J J Hospital.

The trio asked for the case to be handed over to the CBI on the grounds that the police investigation would be biased as they were involved too. Their lawyer Ejaz Naqvi said that they were injured in an open fire that was unnecessary, and was triggered without any instigation or warning.

However, the HC replied, "Even if we accept your argument that the firing was wrong and was instigated by the police that does not show that the investigation being conducted by a special investigation team of crime branch is incompetent and biased. Show us at least one circumstance or reason to prove that police are biased. Without that we cannot allow a CBI probe", represented by Khanwilkar.

There were two deaths, 52 injured people in the Aug 11 violence of which 44 injured were policemen. The rally was a form of protest agains the atrocities against Muslims in Assam and Myanmar which went awry. TH protests wreaked havoc while police, women constables too, were attacked and the vehicles of media and police were destroyed. Cameras of the photojournalists and buses were also damaged.

(AW.Anil)