Allahabad High Court reserves order on CBI probe into Bhatta-Parsaul

Allahabad, Jan 16 (ANI): The Allahabad High Court on Monday reserved its judgement on a bunch of petitions seeking a CBI probe into the Bhatta Parsaul police firing case of Greater Noida in which four persons were killed during a farmers' agitation against land acquisition.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Imityaz Murtaza and Justice V K Dixit reserved its verdict, for pronouncement of judgement in the second week of March, on petitions filed by Atul Sharma and other residents of the village.

The verdict on the matter, which has led to intense politicking in the last one year, is now likely to come after the completion of the state assembly elections.

"The Bhatta Parsaul villages, where the police had meted out brutal treatment on the farmers and they were also beaten up, women were raped and regarding this, Atul Kumar Sharma, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Gautam Buddha Nagar district, filed a PIL in the High Court and after hearing both the sides, today the High Court said that the order would be pronounced in the second week of March, the order has been reserved until then," said Pawan Bhardwaj, a lawyer.

Bhardwaj further asserted that an independent investigation by the CBI was essential to carry out a fair and transparent probe.

"We demand a CBI enquiry, because where the police force of the state is itself involved, so you cannot expect a transparent investigation from them because they have only committed these atrocities and if they carry out the investigation, it would not be appropriate. So, we have demanded enquiry by independent agencies through an investigation by the CBI and the order has been reserved because the state government said that the opposition would give it a political angle during the elections," said Bhardwaj.

Violence had erupted in the village when a number of policemen and administrative officials reached there and demanded the release of state transport corporation personnel allegedly being held hostage by the agitating farmers.

The episode had kicked off a major political storm in the wake of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi visiting the village and alleging that some of the villagers had complained to him that some of the protestors were burnt alive and women were raped by the policemen. (ANI)

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