Haji Yousuf death inquiry

Bedi Commission to start proceedings after Dec 15^th

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 30: National Panthers Party patron Prof Bhim Singh’s petition before Supreme Court of India, seeking CBI investigation in the National Conference (NC) activist Haji Mohammad Yousuf’s death in controversial circumstances, has come up as an impediment in kick-starting proceedings of Justice (retired) H S Bedi’s Commission of Inquiry on the same subject.

Justice H S Bedi, who reached here on Monday last, has set up his office-cum-residence at Hari Niwas Palace. This historic building had been renovated during Ghulam Nabi Azad’s regime in 2006-08 at a staggering cost and declared as Chief Minister’s residence. However, carrying the image of a jinxed premises, Azad’s successor, Omar Abdullah, did not establish his residence at Hari Niwas. Azad’s government had fallen within weeks of his shifting from J&K Bank’s Guest House near famous Zethiyar Temple to Hari Niwas in 2008.

Informed sources revealed to Early Times that Bedi set up his office and residence at Hari Niwas. On advice from the state government, staff of nearly half-a-dozen officials was provided to Justice Bedi by J&K State Human Rights Commission and Department of Law while as few more officials are also being deployed for his assistance by J&K High Court.

Law Secretary, according to sources, had a detailed meeting with Bedi at Hari Niwas. Sources revealed that during the course of the meeting, Bedi expressed surprise over the fact that he had not been informed about Bhim Singh’s petition being under consideration of Supreme Court of India for admission. The apex court is expected to declare its verdict on the petition’s admission on December 15^th.

Consequently, Bedi made it clear on the state government that even if there was not a specific bar, it would be contrary to propriety to hold parallel judicial proceedings on the same subject. He is understood to have asserted that he could kick-start formal proceedings of the Commission of Inquiry only after declaration of Supreme Court’s verdict on a PIL filed by Prof Bhim Singh on behalf of NPP President and MLA of Udhampur, Balwan Singh Mankotia.

According to these sources, Mr Bedi would be flying back to New Delhi tomorrow to have a detailed discussion with Registry of Supreme Court of India and top bureaucrats at union Ministry of Law and Justice. Officials maintained that he would be visiting New Delhi only to get some of his family members to Srinagar.

Sources said that Mr Bedi would return to Srinagar in the next couple of days. Until December 15^th, he would be obtaining and examining material evidence like CCTV footage of Chief Minister’s residence, post mortem report prepared by doctors of Police Hospital and Department of Forensic Medicine Government Medical College Srinagar, forensic opinion prepared by Forensic Science Laboratory besides the text of FIR filed by Crime Branch, newspaper reports and press conferences of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and senior government functionaries like Principal Secretary of Home, B R Sharma, and Director General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda.

Notification, inviting all concerned who had any first hand knowledge about the sequence of events, would be subject to the disposal of Mr Mankotia’s PIL at Supreme Court of India.

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