HC orders stay on probe into Jhiram Ghatiincident by new commission till next hearing

Bilaspur:In a setback to the state government, Chhattisgarh High Court has ordered a stay on new Jhiram Ghati Commission to probe the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Naxal attack that left several senior Congress leaders dead. The High Court said that the new Commission cannot probe the Jhiram Ghati case till the next hearing while hearing a writ petition filed by Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly DharamlalKaushik.

The division bench comprising of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice R C S Samant conducted the hearing and passed the order on Wednesday, reserving the next hearing date for July 4.

Kaushik challenged the State government for re-constituting Jhiram Ghati Inquiry Commission to investigate the case. Kaushik mentioned in the petition that the report of the Jhiram GhatiInquiry Commission headed by Justice PrashantKumar Mishra should have been tabled in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly within six months of its submission. But without submitting the report, the State government re-constituted the Jhiram Ghati Inquiry Commission. Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani and Vivek Sharma appeared for the petitioner.