Secret Killings Case: Gauhati HC Upholds Judgment Clearing Ex-Assam CM

The Gauhati High Court has recently upheld the 2018 judgment of its single bench, which gave a clean chit to former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta for any involvement in the secret killings case.

The secret killings, that occurred between 1998 & 2001 during Mahanta’s tenure as Chief Minister, targeted family members of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in the state.

Journalist and Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, along with another individual named Ananta Kalita, filed an Interlocutory Application before the court, seeking condonation of a 531-day delay in filing the connected writ appeal against the 2018 judgment.

The court dismissed the application, finding it lacking in genuine grounds & merit.

In its order, the court stated that “We are of the view that the application for condonation of delay is not based on bonafide assertions and grounds and hence, the same does not merit acceptance. As a consequence, the I.A.(Civil) No.1778/2021 is dismissed as being devoid of merit.”

The court observed that the applicants failed to adequately explain the significant delay in filing the appeal and made inconsistent & contradictory statements in their affidavits.

The order stated that, “It may further be noted that the applicants, directly approached the Supreme Court for assailing the order dated September 3, 2018, rendered by the learned Single Bench. The said Special Leave Petition (SLP) was withdrawn on December 18, 2020, with the liberty to file a writ appeal before the High Court but while doing so, no prayer was made on behalf of the applicants to seek any leniency on condonation of delay in filing the writ appeal in this Court.”

The court criticized the applicants, particularly Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, a well-known journalist and serving Rajya Sabha Member, suggesting that the litigation appeared to be sponsored by him.

We may note that from the pleadings of the application, it is crystal clear that the litigation seems to be sponsored by applicant No. 2 who is a well-known journalist of yesteryears and presently is a serving Rajya Sabha Member. Copies of the newspaper reports which have been annexed with the affidavits of respondent No. 1 make it clear that the information regarding the judgment dated September 3, 2018, rendered by the learned Single Bench was published extensively and the publications continued over a prolonged period.

The court found the applicants’ claims of being unaware of the 2018 judgment to be false and unacceptable, citing extensive newspaper reports on the matter.

The Court added, “That apart, in the rejoinder affidavit filed on behalf of the applicants on June 3, 2022, it has been clearly stated that applicant No.2 became aware of the judgment dated September 3, 2018, in December 2018. Thus, this assertion in the affidavit is in complete divergence with the averment made in the original application dated April 8, 2021, wherein it has been claimed that the applicants were not made parties to the proceedings before the Single Bench and thus, they were unaware of the proceedings of the writ petition or its result.”

In 2005, the Justice (Retd.) KN Saikia Commission was established by the Congress-led government to investigate the killings. The Commission submitted its report in four volumes, which was presented to the Assam Legislative Assembly on November 15, 2007, along with the report of the Justice (Retd.) JN Sarma Commission of Inquiry. In 2018, the High Court quashed the constitution of the Commission.

In 2018, the High Court quashed the constitution of the Commission.