JIC to summon NCP chief Sharad Pawar for deposition in Bhima-Koregaon case

The Bhima-Koregaon judicial inquiry commission (JIC) on Monday said that it will call Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar for deposition in the matter soon.

The Commission, headed by former Calcutta High Court chief justice JN Patel, while hearing an application seeking the summoning of Sharad Pawar, said that Pawar will be called when the involved parties are allowed to cross-examine him.

Pawar has already filed an affidavit in the matter.

An application was filed by one Sagar Shinde on February 20, requesting the JIC to summon Sharad Pawar in the matter.

The application had referred to a press conference addressed by Pawar on February 18 where, as per the applicant, the NCP chief had said that Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide had created a different atmosphere in Bhima-Koregaon area.

"It looks like Pawar knows more about the violence than what he has mentioned in an affidavit filed by him earlier," Shinde said in his application.

When the JIC was formed, it had invited affidavits from everyone who had any knowledge about the violence following which Shinde filed an affidavit claiming that he was present on the spot at that time.

The JIC was constituted by the Maharashtra government in February 2018 to find out the reasons which had led to the violence.

On January 1, 2018, violence had erupted during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle. One person was killed and several others were injured in the incident. The police have filed 58 cases against 162 people in the matter.