21 April,2023 06:47 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Sharad Pawar. File Pic
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday termed the acquittal of all 67 accused in the 2002 Naroda Gam riot case as the "murder of rule of law and the Constitution."
Speaking at a gathering of Nationalist Congress Party's workers in suburban Ghatkopar, he also blamed the Maharashtra government for the deaths of people due to sunstroke at the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony in Kharghar, and demanded a judicial probe.
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.
ALSO READ
Mild 'tremors' felt in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi town; no casualties or damage reported
Fire breaks out in high-rise in Kalyan; none hurt
T2 Metro Station to soon have direct connectivity at airport building
BJP slams NCP (SP), reacts to decision on Mumbai AC local trains
Maharashtra poll process over, IPS officer Rashmi Shukla assumes DGP charge
Only a probe by a retired judge will fix responsibility for the tragedy, he said.
Also Read: Ajit Pawar reiterates demand for judicial probe into Kharghar sunstroke deaths
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.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
