cannot close its eyes to the contents of the Press Note dated January 16, 1995 stated
to be investigated by Khalra and Dhillon. In case it is found that the facts stated in
the Press Note are correct - even partially - it would be a gory-tale of Human rights
violations. It is horrifying to visualise that dead bodies of large number of persons allegedly thousands could be cremated by the police unceremoniously with a label
"unidentified". Our faith in democracy and rule of law assures us that nothing of the
type can ever happen in this country but the allegations in the Press-Note, horrendous
as they are, need thorough investigation. We, therefore, direct the Director, Central
Bureau of Investigation to appoint a high powered team to investigate into the facts
contained in the Press Note dated Januari 16, 1995. We direct all the concerned
authorities of the State of Punjab including the Director General of Police, Punjab to
render all assistance to the CBI in the investigation. Ail the authorities of the Punjab
Government shall render all help and assistance to the CBI team as and when asked
by any member OF the said team. We give liberty to the CBI to seek any further directions
from this Court from time to time as may be necessary during the investigation."
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"The CBI has completed its enquiry as directed by us. The 5th and final report
was filed in this Court on December 9, 1996. The report is self explanatory and speaks
for itself. The Registry shall send a copy of the report to the National Human Rights
Commission (the Commission) under a sealed cover. The report indicates that 585
dead bodies were fully identified, 274 partially identified and 1238 unidentified. Needless
to say that the report discloses flagrant violation of human rights on a mass scale.
Without going into the matter any further, we leave the whole matter to be dealt with
by the Commission.
This Court on December 11, 1996 passed the following order :
"Pursuant to this Court's order dated November 15, 1995, the CBI has placed
on record the 5th and Final report dated December 9, 1996 regarding the cremation
by Punjab. Mr. M L Sharma, Joint Director, CBI is personally present in Court. We
agree with the suggestion of Mr. Sharma that the contents of the report be kept secret,
as at present, because further investigation has to be undertaken by the CBI.
Mr. Sharma has suggested that since large number of cases may have to be registered,
the CBI may be permitted to undertake investigation of 10-15 cases and the remaining
cases be investigated by the Punjab Police. We appreciate the suggestion but since
the CBI has done the initial investigation in this matter and has placed five detailed
reports before this Court while appreciating the work of the CBI, we are of the view
that as at present, the CBI should undertake the investigation of all the cases which