Mathura clash: PIL seeking CBI probe posted to July 18

The Allahabad High Court today adjourned the hearing of a PIL seeking a CBI investigation into the Mathura clashes of last month till July 18.
A Division Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ravindra Nath Kakkar, while hearing the Public Interest Litigation filed by Ashwini Upadhyay and two others, summoned all records of petitions related to the incident filed before the court.
Illegal encroachment of government-owned Jawahar Bagh in Mathura by members of a group had led to clashes between the squatters and police leaving 29 persons dead, including two police officials, on June 2.
The PIL seeks a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the events leading to the violence at the sprawling public park from where a huge cache of firearms was recovered after hundreds of squatters belonging to Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi were evicted.

They had been illegally occupying the government land since January, 2014.
A supplementary affidavit was filed today by Upadhyay, a Supreme Court lawyer and a leader of the BJP's Delhi unit, contending that while the Uttar Pradesh government was opposed to a CBI probe into the clashes on the ground that a judicial inquiry has already been ordered, in the Saradha chit fund scam, the apex court had ordered such an investigation even though the West Bengal government was getting the matter looked into by a retired High Court judge.

The petitioner said the apex court had ordered transfer of all cases relating to Saradha to the CBI, observing "the need for a competent, effective and constructive investigation to unearth a larger conspiracy angle and other aspects which state agencies, in spite of their efforts, fail to do and generally fail to inspire such confidence".

"Given the fact that the deceased leader of the religious cult, which occupied the land for more than two years, was said to be close to a state cabinet minister and a Rajya Sabha member of the ruling Samajwadi Party, it is doubtful that a one-member judicial commission or a Special Investigating Team of Uttar Pradesh police will be able to ensure justice," he added.
Upadhyay also claimed that all the squatters were not residents of Uttar Pradesh. Many of them hailed from adjoining states and some also reportedly belonged to Nepal.