Khairlanji case set to go to Supreme Court
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COMMENTS 
Bhaiyalal Bhotmange, the lone survivor of the Khairlanji massacre, has announced that he will independently appeal in the Supreme Court against the recent Bombay High Court verdict
The Khairlanji case is set to go to the Supreme Court, and the absence of the caste atrocity charge, in an incident where four members of a dalit family were killed, is expected to be the key issue. Already, various Ambedkarite organisations, the Maharashtra government and the media have reacted strongly against a verdict of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court which saw the massacre only as an act of revenge.
The high court’s decision to commute the death sentence given to the six accused in the case, to life imprisonment, triggered protests from human rights and dalit organisations. Bhotmange, along with a delegation from the All-India Dhammasena (AID), visited Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, on July 28, 2010, and was told that the government had already sent a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asking for an appeal in the Supreme Court.
Bhotmange however alleged that the state government had become insensitive to the case, although he refrained from demanding a re-investigation, claiming that it would be impossible now to cover all the evidence and witnesses. “If all the available evidence is presented effectively, the Supreme Court will give us justice,” he said.
He added: “The CBI’s counsel did not present our side effectively, and has also neglected some evidence in the investigation. Irrespective of the CBI’s appeal, I have decided to field my own counsel in the Supreme Court.”
He recalled that while the case was in the trials court itself, the Khairlanji Action Committee had written a letter to the state raising concerns that Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ujjwal Nikam was diluting the caste angle.
The letter, dated November 12, 2007, addressed to then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh called attention to the presentation of evidence by Nikam. It stated: “The basis of this crime, that is casteism, is not highlighted in the evidence adduced by the prosecution. It seems the case is being treated by Nikam, SPP, as a mere murder trial. The basis of all that happened in Khairlanji is casteism, and this must be emphasised in all its nakedness. (Only) that will describe the crime in the correct perspective.”
Bhotmange strongly rejected the argument that the Khairlanji killings were not an act of caste violence. “Dalits in this village still suffer atrocities and even we suffered for a long time,” he said. “We are talking about a village that is divided along caste lines. In such a scenario, how can we expect witnesses to furnish testimonies? Nikam could have highlighted the history of caste abuse through his examination of the witnesses.”
Source: DNA, July 29, 2010
The Hindu, July 29, 2010