People's Democracy

Challenge The Acquittal In Sabharwal�s Murder Case

The Central Executive Committee of Students Federation of India (SFI) has issued the following statement on July 15, 2009:

A Nagpur court has acquitted all six accused in the murder of Professor H S Sabharwal on July 14, 2009. Professor Sabharwal was murdered by a mob of ABVP goons in broad daylight on August 26, 2006, in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. The BJP state government has been trying to shield the accused, some of whom were leaders of the ABVP.

The family of Sabharwal had been demanding from the very beginning that the trial be held outside the state to ensure that a free and fair enquiry can take place. But rejecting the demand of Sabharwal�s family that the trial be held in Delhi, the Supreme Court accepted the plea of Madhya Pradesh government of holding it in Nagpur.

Professor Sabharwal�s widow has clearly said that holding the trial in Nagpur, which is an RSS bastion, has impacted the case. The manner in which the government took up this case is evident from the fact that the judge Nitin Dalvi, remarked while giving his judgment that justice could not be done to Professor Sabharwal because the prosecution failed to establish its case.This makes it obvious that there was no sincere effort on part of the government to bring the accused to book.

The SFI demands that earnest measures must be taken to ensure that the acquittal is challenged in a higher bench and the prosecution gets its act together to ensure that all those who were involved in this gruesome act are punished.

Professor Sabharwal�s murder is yet another testimony to the violent and fascistic politics of the ABVP and Sangh Parivar in our country. SFI appeals to the democratic minded student community to isolate and defeat the fascistic agenda of the ABVP and also stand in solidarity with the family of Professor H S Sabharwal in their struggle to achieve justice.