Appeal for Solidarity with Maruti Workers under Attack

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Published on Tuesday, 30 August 2011 15:37

Fighting Against the Autocratic Attack and Lock-out by the Management

Dear friend,

The management of the biggest car company in India, Mauti Suzuki India Limited has forced a lock-out at the Manesar, Gurgaon plant since the morning of 29 August. It has terminated 11 workers and suspended 10 more on baseless charges of indiscipline and participatins in a “go-slow action”. The company has also imposed a dictatorial and utterly illegal “good conduct bond” on the workers and has decreed that any worker who will not sign the bond will be considered “on strike” and will not be allowed to enter the plant. (Please see the text of the notice at the end of this letter.)

The management had started preparing for this lockout since the evening of Sunday and a large police force was deployed at its behest at the plant. The company has already appointed a number of ‘bouncers’ as security guards and several musclemen from nearby villages have also been hired to intimidate and threaten the workers. However, the workers are united and determined to fight this attack. Not a single woker has signed the bond. Along with the 1100 regular worker, around 2000 contract and apprentice workers have also joined the struggle, although te management tried to separate them by announcing leave for contract and apprentice workers till September 1.

The Haryana govt. is brazenly siding with the MSIL and laving no stone unturned in crushing the workers’ struggle. The BS Hudda led Congress got. had promptly declared the 13 day (4-17 June) strike illegal and its labour minister kept on trying to end the strike in favour of the company by threatning and misleading the workers.

Ever since the end of the strike in June, the management has been trying to dismiss and threaten or demoralize the workers by various means. Since July, some contract and apprentice workers are being thrown out almost every day. Even without counting the action on 29 August, 84 workers have been dismissed or suspended since July. In July, after the management sponsored elections of the Gurgaon plant based pro-management union, which was boycotted by Manesar workers, the management terminated some leading members of the Maruti Suzuki Employees Union which is still continuing.

Chief Minister Hudda had promised the workers leaders that there will be no difficulty in getting the union registered. However, just a day before 15 August, the govt. dismissed their application for registration and made it clear whose independence it really was. In fact, during the June strike, Hudda had promised Shinzo Nakanishi that his government will not allow the formation of a second union.

At least 2 million workers work in hundreds of units situated in the vast industrial belt in and around Gurgaon. There are around 1 million workers work in the units of automobile industry alone. These workers who produce auto parts for companies from all over the world in modern factories have to work in very bad conditions. More than 90 percent of these are contract workers who work for 10-12 hours for 4000-5000 per month. The workload and speed is extremely high and they have to face verbal abuse and even beatings by the supervisors and security guards. Most of the factories do not have unions and where the workers have managed to form a union, they have to face constant harrassment. The established big unions do nothing except paying lip service to the issues and in many cases have ditched the workers in favour of the management. In this scenario, the issue of the right to form a union is a common and universal issue in the Gurgaon industrial belt.

The workers of Maruti Suzuki, Manesar may earn a little bit more than other workers but they too work in very bad conditions. The work load is very high and sometimes they have to work for even 16 hours at a stretch. Getting a leave or off day is extremely difficult and heavy fines are imposed for even a few minutes delay. They get two short breaks of 7-8 minutes for lunch and tea, even toilet breaks are not allowed in between. They have to face abuses and threats if they refuse to work overtime. This is the reason behind the resolute struggle of the workers to form their separate union.

We appeal to all democratic rights activists, intellectuals, jurists, media persons and justice loving citizens for solidarity and support to their just struggle.

What you can do:

- Sign on the online petition at: http://www.facebook.com/l/fAQDwG0HWAQATqpEszEBBl2QjiZ2iMqnui4iIGCKp0rP90Q/bit.ly/pCCtjf

- We request that you send a letter of protest through email, fax, phone, letter and telegram to the Chief Minister, chief secretary, labour minister and labour secretary of Haryana and the officials of Maruti Suzuki India and Suzuki Japan, send memorandums and run a signature campaign to protest the repression of workers. The addresses, email ids, fax number etc are given below.

- Spread the news of this agitaion through your website, blog and facebook and appeal for support. 

- We request that teams of civil rights activists should come to Gurgaon and investigate the situation, prepare their report and let the voice of justice reach the government and people.

- We urge that you organise protest demonstrations on this issue in Delhi, Chandigarh and other cities of the country.

- If friends from Delhi and other cities can come to Gurgaon and extend their support to the workers’ movement and launch a ‘satyagrah’ in their support, it will strengthen their struggle.

Link : http://www.facebook.com/l/-AQB9WrgaAQBKSEbasYZ9tibG1Onwg0pBIQsMaTc4OFO3vA/workersresist.net/?p=1469

PS: For a recap of the backdrop and eventualities of the workers' strike in June, check the Newsclick report: http://www.facebook.com/l/YAQDLsFlZAQBuD5B-k-L5SSShW41ukpcwNiIHPcRU9uKfRA/www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrE4zKMOg8U

Protect Right to Just Minimum Wage and Democratic Rights of TUs in Tea Plantations

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Published on Saturday, 27 August 2011 09:49

Protect Right to Just Minimum Wage and Democratic Rights of TUs in Tea Plantations

18 August 2011, New Delhi: The New Trade Union Initiative supports the continuing united
industrial action by 32 unions represented by the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation
Workers supported by the Defense Committee for Plantation Workers Rights and other unions for
an increase in wages from the present Rs. 67.50 to Rs. 165 and a re-introduction of Variable
Dearness Allowance (VDA).

The tripartite negotiation, that began with the lapse of the previous industry wage agreement on 31
March 2011, entered a deadlock after 6 rounds of negotiation when the Consultative Committee of
Plantation Association (CCPA), refused to accept the demand of the Coordination Committee for an
increase in daily wages from Rs.67 to Rs.165. The government then made an informal proposal to
the unions to accept an increase in wage to Rs 130 at par with the MGNREGA wage. The CCPA
offer for wage increase stands at Rs 24 spread over three years at Rs. 8 each year to Rs. 91 in three
years time. This means that the employers are offering a wage increase, even with the additional
component of wage in kind, that would keep wages below the national floor wage and also below
the state agricultural minimum wage.

The West Bengal state government along with the employers has come down heavily against this
united action of the trade unions in the region. The employers, on one hand, have resorted to wage
cuts in several gardens and have even declared illegal lockouts. On 4 August, the management of
Bharnobari Tea Estate (a garden, employing 2,034 workers, that remained closed for a period of
over two years between 29 December 2005 till 27 April 2008 and experienced 28 starvation deaths
during this period) began to deduct wages of workers for participating in the hour long gate
meetings that were being organised by all trade unions in every garden calling for a resolution of
the present deadlock. When workers protested the illegal wage cut, the garden manager threatened
to declare a lockout in the garden. Hundreds of workers led by women activists of the Paschim
Banga Cha Bagan Shramik Karmachari Union gheraoed the manager and the 6 assistant managers
and walked them 2 km to the Hashimara Police Station and filed a complaint of harassment. The
management has since abandoned the garden. Similarly, in the Debpara Tea Estate, employing 1108
workers, the management announced a ‘suspension of work’ following protests by workers.

On the other hand, the newly formed state government has adopted a dual strategy to break the
unity of the workers. In response to the strike call by the tea unions, the Chief Minister of West
Bengal said “… The politics of strike cannot be allowed to go on …. Numerous tea gardens have
remained shut. There can be problems, but strikes cannot be used as a tool to deprive people of their
rights.” She also added that if necessary her government would legislate to ban strikes. This is in
blatant violation of the right to strike of workers. The political right to strike is organically linked to
the fundamental right to association and collective bargaining of workers as enshrined in our
constitution and is an inalienable part of trade union response in times of dire crisis. This is also in
violation of the ILO Conventions 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organise and 98 on Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining. Even the United Nation’s
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enshrines the right to strike.

The government has also begun parallel wage negotiations with the Progressive Tea Workers’ Union
(PTWU) which is not even a member of the Coordination Committee, that represents 32 unions in
the industry, which along with the Defense Committee is the bargaining agent for workers in the
tripartite negotiation. The PTWU had initially demanded a daily wage of Rs 250 against the demand
of Rs. 165 plus VDA made by the Coordination Committee. When the CCPA turned down this
proposal, the PTWU also decided to support the strike called by the Coordination Committee on 7
August 2011 supported by the Defense Committee as well as many other unions, including the AllIndia Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and the union affiliated to the Indian National
Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC).

But, following a bilateral meeting on 10 August 2011 with the State Industries Minister, Partha
Chatterjee, Development Minister, Gautam Deb, and the Labour Minister, Purnendu Bose, the
PTWU announced that they would go on strike on 17-18 August if the wage for plantation workers
is not increased to a minimum of Rs 90. This is not just diluting the wage demand of the
Coordination Committee but also breaking the existing united movement of tea workers. The union
on 14 August has also withdrawn its proposed two-day tea strike from 17 August after a meeting
with north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb. This parallel negotiation process is also
undermining the ongoing tripartite negotiation and driving a wedge in the unity of workers in the
industry.

NTUI welcomes the coordinated effort of the unions in the Coordination Committee of Tea
Plantation Workers and stand in solidarity with the continuing struggle for a wage agreement in the
tea industry in Bengal. Further, NTUI strongly condemns the state government’s threat to ban
strikes and its efforts to circumvent the tripartite negotiation. We call upon the Government of West
Bengal to respect the:
1. Right of the bargaining agent for workers – the Coordination and the Defence Committees – in
the tripartite negotiation on tea
2. Framework of tripartite negotiation in industry wage agreement
3. Right to Association and Collective Bargaining of workers
4. Principles of a just minimum wage for all workers

Wage Violation in NREGA in tea plantations of District Jalpaiguri, West Bengal

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Published on Saturday, 27 August 2011 09:47

Wage Violation in NREGA in tea plantations of District Jalpaiguri, West Bengal

21 June, Delhi: Gross violations of NREGA have been reported from Kalchini Tea Garden located
in Kalchini GP (Kalchini Block) in Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal of the provisions. Under the
scheme for revival of closed tea garden, NREGA was extended to all workers in the closed gardens.
It was specified that the work under NREGA would specifically be works permissible under the act,
of community benefit and not directly accruable to the garden management. This would include
land development, drainage, irrigation channel, connectivity. Absolutely no plantations and
plucking would be allowed. The Kalchini Tea Garden has suffered a decade of closure and,
consequently, the workers have been rendered destitute longing for any and all kinds of work for
pay. It was thus brought under the NREGA by the gram panchayat.

From 13 December 2010 to 31 March 2011, all 2003 permanent workers of the Kalchini Tea
Garden were put to work under the MGNREGS within the confines of the garden, to construct
drainage systems. The BDO, Kalchini, visited the garden to oversee the progress of the work while
it was on, along with the Pradhan of the Kalchini Gram Panchayat indicating that it was a Panchayat
project.

i. Non-payment of NREGA wage: Workers at the various sites have been paid daily wages ranging
between Rs. 30 and 50 on an average. The rationale for payment of this provided by the gram
panchayat was that the base wage was being taken as Rs. 65, the then current wage of tea garden
workers, as the work was being done within a tea garden. Further, given that the workers engaged at
the site were tea garden workers, the gram panchayat was also making deductions for PF, electricity
payments, etc. This is in clear violation of Section 6(2) of the NREGA.

ii. Job Cards and Post Office Pass Books seized: The Pradhan and his office seized all the Job
Cards and Post Office Pass Books at the commencement of work. The Job Cards and the Pass
Books have not been returned yet to any worker, in spite of repeated requests by the workers.
iii. No muster roll at site: No muster rolls were at the sites and no details of projects were shown to
the workers in spite of repeated requests from the workers.

iv. Violence at Worksite: Ruffians from two ostensibly warring ethnic parties in the region also
joined hands to silence all opposition or questionings of this state of affairs. They collectively
threatened the workers who filed complaints with the panchayat with dire consequences.

We immediately demand that:

• an enquiry is initiated in the matter
• NREGA is implemented in the tea gardens of Jalpaiguri district as per the provisions of the Act;
• ensure that the rights of workers under NREGA are not violated;
• action is taken against the Jalpaiguri District Collector, garden management and other officers,
who failed in their responsibility to implement the NREGA as per its provisions and also to protect
workers from acts of criminal intimidation.

Vaskar Nandy, President
Paschim Banga Cha Bagan Sramik Karmachari Union

Campaign for a Just Wage for Tea Plantation Workers Launched

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Published on Saturday, 27 August 2011 09:44

Campaign for a Just Wage for Tea Plantation Workers Launched

With 1692 registered tea producers and nine auction centers, the tea industry sees an annual
turnover of over Rs. 9000 crores. North Bengal has about 450 gardens spread out in the Darjeeling
hills, Terai and Dooars region that are registered as sellers in the Siliguri tea Auction Centre with
about 3.5 lakh permanent workers. It is estimated that more than 25, 00,000 people are dependent
on the tea industry in the region. The last 10 years has seen many changes within the tea industry of
the region.

Closed and Abandoned gardens

In the last decade or so the region saw large number of tea gardens closing down. More than 50
gardens had closed during this period affecting a huge section of the work force. 4 gardens continue
to be abandoned. Interestingly, despite the crisis, till 2007 the tea industry in West Bengal saw only
8 workers’ strikes as against 202 lockouts! Of about 14 tea gardens abandoned by their owners, few
were run by the Operative Management Committees (OMC) – a committee initiated and formed
with the workers of the garden to keep the plucking of tea leaves happening so as to provide
subsistence sustenance to the workers of the garden. Most of these have now reopened with the
Special Tea Fund released in 2007 by the ministry of finance of the Government of India but are
functioning under the constant shadow of closure.
During this same period the region also saw a large number of starvation deaths. Nearly 1500
workers from the closed gardens died of starvation during this same period. Studies show that 70%
of the people of closed tea gardens are in the Chronic Energy Deficiency III stage. The Central
government announced the Financial Assistance to the Workers in Locked-out Industrial units
scheme (FAWLOI) for providing financial assistance to every worker of closed gardens, but it did
not extend the same benefit to the bigha or casual workers whose ratio to the permanent workers is
now almost at 1:3 and is ever increasing with the managements moving towards more induction of
casual workers especially in the cases of plucking for the inferior CTC tea.
The Supreme Court in its order in August 2010 had directed the Central Government to invoke the
Tea Act 1953 to take over the gardens that are closed within six months. The Central Government
has not only failed to stop closures in the industry, it has also failed to implement the Supreme
Court order.

Labour Rights Violations

The tea gardens have been violating the basic provisions of the Tea Plantation Labour Act with
impunity. Provisions of crèche, medical facilities, ambulance, and house repair have all become
things of the past. Moreover, many tea gardens of the region have also not deposited the provident
fund dues of the workers amounting to over Rs. 77 crores while the state government has provided
full support to the garden owners by being silent observers.
Further, a system of productivity linked wages was forced by the management and the Government
of West Bengal in 2005 during a very low ebb in the workers movement which led to the
introduction of a pro- rata system of wages that entails plantation workers to deliver a pre-agreed
productivity level to earn their basic daily wage. In case they fail to achieve this target, there is a cut
in the daily wage. However, extra productivity is also awarded with incentives. This productivitylinked pro rata system of wage setting that is contingent on the collective bargaining power of
negotiating trade unions is always fraught with the high possibility of huge losses in wage
depending on the bargaining strength of the trade unions. Given that the wages in the tea industry
are abysmally low, even lower than the statutory agricultural minimum wage in the state, this
system has actually perpetuated a system that can amount to payment of a wage lower than theminimum wage which according to the Supreme Court amounts to ‘forced labour’. This system has
also re-introduced child labour into the tea gardens. To meet the production targets, women workers
are forced to bring their children to supplement their work.

Towards a Just Wage

Wages in the tea plantation sector have always been set through tripartite agreements which have
been infrequent and skewed in favour of the plantation owners. With the sustained crisis in the
plantations and the recent Supreme Court directive for invoking the Tea Act and the upcoming
elections, the state government has felt the pressure to propose a minimum wage for the tea
plantations last year below which no wage can fall.
The government proposal of minimum wage for the plantation workers falls short of providing the
basic needs of a worker as proposed by the 15th ILC norms and subsequent Supreme Court orders
supplementing it. It is therefore time to build an alliance with all progressive trade unions to
campaign for a minimum wage linked to dearness allowance with 100% neutralization that will not
just provide the subsistence needs of workers but also ensure that there can be no productivity
linked wage cuts.

In taking this demand forward, Darjeeling Terai Dooars Chia Kaman Union, Pashchim Banga Cha
Sramik Karmachari Union, Terai Sanngrami Cha Sramik Union and the All West Bengal Tea
Garden Labour Union have come together to launch a joint campaign on minimum wage of Rs. 245
per day for the tea plantation workers as per 15th ILC norms and subsequent Supreme Court orders.
The joint trade union initiative will also campaign for the implementation of the Plantation Labour
Act and in case of sick and closed plantations demand the implementation of the Supreme Court
directive of 2010.

On behalf of the joint campaign, Ashim Roy, General Secretary, NTUI

Constituents of the joint campaign:

Ram Ganesh & Pradip Debnath
All West Bengal Tea Garden Labour Union (CPI-ML, Kanu Sanyal)
Ganesh Rai & Kailas Khawar
Darjeeling Terai Dooars Chia Kaman Mazdoor Union (CPRM)
Tapan Nag
Paschim Banga Cha Bagan Sramik Karmachari Union (NTUI)
Abhijit Mazumdar
Terai Sangrami Cha Sramik Union (AICCTU)

NTUI Statement On the Fight Against Corruption

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Published on Thursday, 25 August 2011 17:25

NTUI Statement On the Fight Against Corruption



Workers’ life and work experiences are very different from those of the middle class and the ruling elite; so is their experience with corruption.
For the middle class, corruption is a mechanism to accelerate government procedures in the public or private sectors. For the working class,
corruption deepens their experience of subordination. Instances of corruption that are directly experienced by the working people are the
result of the unequal power relations that govern workers’ daily interaction with public institutions and is therefore contributing to a sense of
distrust and loss of faith in these institutions. There can be little doubt that corruption affects the working class disproportionately more than it
affects economically more privileged sections of society.



The present nationwide campaign against corruption led by Anna Hazare representing a visible section of people from the elite and middle classes,
has also captured the imagination of a section of our working class. The participation of the working class comes in part from its own experience of
corruption but also in part because of the campaign’s ability to champion the idea that corruption causes poverty. The latter proposition is a
smokescreen for the structural causes of poverty, of inequality and for the deliberate policy choices government makes that result in these inequities.
Corruption as a cause of poverty only adds strength to the neo-liberal demand for minimal government control and regulation which advocates of the
Washington Consensus advance when calling for “simplifying rules and replacing administrative processes with market mechanisms [as] strong
measures to reduce corruption”. The fight against corruption cannot be fought in isolation but must also be a fight for more regulation of capital
rather than less regulation of capital. This means that the fight against corruption must include demands for legislation and effective implementation
of the laws that govern capital alongside rigorous and stringent implementation of the laws that govern work, the provision of social security and social protection and all laws that provide working people access to their basic needs.



Corruption necessarily flows from above and is deeply rooted in how capital seeks to maximize profits and not merely a product of corrupt civil servants
or a grasping political class. Petty corruption as, it is being portrayed, beginning from the lowest rung of public institution, which affects even the
poorest of the poor,  is only possible as there exists a system of distribution in which the spoils of corruption are shared. This too emanates from the very fact that the political class that forms governments today frames policies seeking to limit its own role in order to further interests of capital. Capital, on the other hand, at all times in alliance with a section of the polity and the civil service, seeks concessions in order to expand the share of profits through access to resources and soft, porous and where possible complicit, regulation. Hence capital not just corrupts government for easy access to regulation but also seeks privileged access for expanded profits. In the present phase of imperialist globalisation, there is a very thin line between profit maximisation and corruption. Absence or limiting state intervention does not lead to elimination of corruption. “Market-mediated” corruption is rampant in those sectors with minimal government intervention. The scale of corruption in our country has acquired enormous proportions with the expansion of the private sector, the decline of government’s role in economic activity and reduction of regulation.



The present government has like its predecessors, despite various manifesto commitments, failed to display the political will to put in place a set of
legislation that would address the issue of corruption in the polity, in the civil service and in the judiciary at the national level and create an enabling framework of legislation within the states. The public display of the lack of political will combined with the deplorable and unwarranted arrest of Anna Hazare and others on 16 August 2011 aroused public emotions against government. Government is today very correctly seen by citizenry as not allowing democratic dissent against its actions or legislative proposals. Civil protest remains the essence of opposition for those who choose to remain outside the electoral system in a parliamentary democracy.



The *Jan Lokpal* proposal that is being pressed by Anna Hazare is unfortunately for an all-encompassing top down unitary authority with powers
that it is claimed, will substantially reduce corruption. Apart from the fact that the proposal seeks an un-democratic lateral graft on the framework
of parliamentary democracy that would both be open to abuse, and possibly corruption within such an authority, it would also end up centralising power
and undermining democracy itself. There are several other views on possible legislative measures to fight corruption, including the one advocated by the
National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, that also hold the possibility of widening democracy.  The movement led by Anna Hazare has also
not been receptive to other views and has been setting a timetable that leaves no room for the vast diversity of Indian civil society, including the working class, to participate in the debate. It cannot be assumed that the mass of people who have turned out to support Anna Hazare’s movement necessarily support the framework of fighting corruption or the time table that Anna Hazare has put out. The movement led by Anna Hazare has also not been democratic and has employed motifs, symbols and statements that go against the grain of an egalitarian and just society and polity.  The New Trade Union Initiative recognises that citizenry in very large numbers is revolted by the scale of corruption, the enormous inequality of power that it creates and a sense of helplessness that goes with it.



In failing to recognise this popular sentiment, government has squandered an important moment in advancing its alleged fight against corruption. Parties
of opposition of the right wing have as is their wont looked for an opportunity to isolate the parties of government and on failing to do so have retreated to the comfort of the parliamentary space. Rather than ensuring that popular sentiment and widely held resentment is channelised in order to voice the plurality of views that exist on the issue in our country, unfortunately the left parliamentary parties too have ended up doing the same thing.



The NTUI recognises that we have not been adequately responsive to the situation. As a national trade union centre we too have the responsibility in taking forward the sentiments of membership. And as a step in that direction the NTUI call’s upon government to ensure that it provides adequate consideration to all positions that exist and ensures the widest possible debate within an acceptable time frame.




Gautam Mody
24 August 2011

Secretary

New Trade Union Initiative

How Modi Government is Victimizing a Police Officer for Speaking Up About Gujarat 2002

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Published on Saturday, 13 August 2011 07:04

Chronology and List of Dates

Victimization of Rahul Sharma, IPS Gujarat

30-10-2004

Rahul Sharma Deposes before the Nanavati Shah Commission

Speaks in Detail about the CD of phone call records submitted by him as also by the Failure of the Gujarat Police to Further Investigate the Gulberg and Naroda Patiya killings thoroughly and in an impartial manner

14-11-2009

Victim Witnesses apply to the Special Investigation Team to make him a witness in the Gulberg Case. SIT had not made him a witness before this, inexplicably

15-9-2010

Ten months later he is examined as a Prosecution Witness in the Gulberg Trial- PW No.330 exb.1213 when he speaks of the failure of the Gujarat police to investigate the case professionally

 

Thereafter 2009, 2010

He records statement in thi connection with the SIT, AK Malhotra. Information of his statement being recorded and its contents are leaked to the Gujarat government by someone in SIT

 

4-2- 2011

Gujarat questions IPS officer for furnishing riots call data

Rahul Sharma served Notice

10-8-2011

Late Night Wednesday August 10 2011

Rahul Sharma being Charge sheeted Under the Official Secretars Act By the Modi Government

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rahul Sharma being Chargesheeted Under the Official Secretars Act By the Modi Government

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIA/2011/08/11&PageLabel=1&EntityId=Ar00100&ViewMode=HTML

Gujarat EDN, TOI 11AUG2011     OSA slapped on Rahul Sharma

Govt Clears Chargesheet Against IPS Officer Behind Damning Phone Records

Ajay Umat | TNN

Ahmedabad: In a clear counter-offensive on senior officials not toeing the political line in the probe into 2002 riots and subsequent encounters, the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat has decided to charge-sheet deputy inspector general (DIG) Rahul Sharma for indiscipline and violation of Official Secrets Act (OSA).
The departmental action comes on the heels of the suspension on Tuesday of another DIG Sanjiv Bhatt and reflects the danger that police officers face for defying the government on this sensitive issue.
The chargesheet cleared by chief minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, it is learnt, accuses Sharma of passing on information to the Nanavati Commission, which is probing the Godhra incident and post-Godhra riots, without the permission from the government. The other allegation is that Sharma violated his service conduct rules by alleging before the special investigation team (SIT) that phone call records collected in the Naroda Patia investigation had been destroyed.
In May 2002, Sharma was asked to assist the investigations into the Naroda Patia massacre (95 dead). As a part of the investigation, phone call data of of entire city of Ahmedabad was collected. This data revealed the links of political leaders with police officers and their movements during the peak of rioting.
The then joint commissioner of crime branch, P P Pande, had handed over a set of two CDs, containing the data, to Sharma and asked him to analyse the records. Sharma copied the same in his home computer on the hard-disk but before he could study them he was transferred to Vav, Surat. As per his statement before the Nanavati Commission, he had sent back the CDs to Pande through a police messenger just before relinquishing his charge.
Phone calls that nail the mobsters
Then minister of state Mayaben Kodnani and state VHP general secretary Dr Jaydeep Patel had been arrested in February 2009 by the SIT when the data analysis of phone records done by Jan Sangharsh Manch corroborated the statements made by eye-witnesses. In October 2004, when Sharma was asked by the government prosecutor to appear before the Nanavati Commission for cross-examination, he handed over 2 CDs to the commission copied from his home computer. He submitted the same CDs to the SIT, then led by former CBI director R K Raghavan, in May 2008. He had argued that it was most surprising that the mobile phone records had been destroyed even while the matter was pending before the Supreme Court. These records were the only scientific evidence available to nail the truth.