If there was one theme in the Supreme Court’s unprecedented indictment of the Modi government yesterday, it was: get justice to the riot victims, get the guilty—that’s what governance is all about.But the Gujarat government, it seems, has a slightly different view.For, this week it appointed a man called Chetan Shah as the Public Prosecutor of Ahmedabad, the point man for ensuring justice to victims of the most serious riot cases in the state.The updated version of Shah’s CV reads like this:• Until July, Shah was defending all the 35 accused in the Gulbarg Housing Society massacre in which ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri and 38 others were killed. All the accused are out on bail.• Shah has been on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) panel of lawyers for over two decades.• In 1986, Shah was named in an FIR in connection with a communal riot in the city in which seven Muslims were burnt alive. He was acquitted in that case for ‘‘lack of evidence.’’But that hasn’t stopped two key witnesses to send a protest letter to state Law Minister Ashok Bhatt, the Law Secretary and the principal judge, City Sessions Court against his appointment.One of them is Feroze Mohammed Gulzar whose 25-year-old son was killed in Gulbarga: ‘‘How can we have faith in him? Until the other day, he has represented the very people who attacked us. This is unfair and we are demanding that the appointment be cancelled. The government should have studied his background, his links with the VHP.’’Shah, when contacted, shrugs off these objections. ‘‘So what if I have a VHP background?’’ he told The Sunday Express. ‘‘So what if my name has been dragged into a case in 1986? Even now, names of innocent Hindus are being dragged into riot FIRs. The court acquitted me because there was no evidence. That settles it. I have been appointed through the proper channels and I will do my job well.’’When asked about witnesses’ objections, Shah said: ‘‘They just need an excuse to write. This fuss is all because of pseudo-secularists who are not bothered about the security of the country. Anyway, I will do my job fairly and as I am expected to do.’’ Though all riot cases will fall under his purview now, Shah says he will not appear in any. ‘‘It’s the team under me which will appear. My colleague Additional Public Prosecutor V.P. Atre will handle Gulbarga trial.’’That’s little comfort to Jafri’s son, Tanvir Jafri. ‘‘It is not acceptable to us,’’ he says. ‘‘Even if it is his team which will be appearing it is obvious they will be directed by him.’’ Contacted by The Sunday Express, Law Minister Ashok Bhatt said: ‘‘Shah was acquitted. His appointment was made after all the procedures were duly followed. I don’t see anything wrong in it.’’This is echoed by VHP State General Secretary Jaideep Patel: ‘‘By representing VHP as a lawyer, Chetan Shah does not become a member. So what even if he happens to be a VHP member? Can’t he become a public prosecutor?’’When asked about the fact the VHP provided Chetan Shah as a lawyer to the accused in the Gulbarg Society massacre, Patel said: ‘‘You want all the lawyers to only represent victims? Should there be no lawyers for the accused?’’ Chairman of Bar Council of Gujarat Bipin Trivedi says this is a political appointment and he cannot object. ‘‘I can’t comment on the ethics of it. But yes, ethics will certainly be discussed if after his appointment there is any misconduct.’’
