BJP tries to cash in on Supreme Court's view on Muzaffarnagar riots

New Delhi: In a jolt to the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the state was prima facie responsible for negligence in preventing communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas but refused to direct a CBI or SIT probe into the cases.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam said, “Had the Central and state intelligence agencies smelled these problems in advance and alerted the district administration, the unfortunate incidents could have been prevented. Thus, we prima facie hold the state responsible for being negligent at the initial stage in not anticipating the communal violence and for taking necessary steps for its prevention.”

Hitting out at opponents, the BJP on Wednesday claimed the “self-appointed guardians of secularism” are silent on the SC’s verdict against the SP government in UP. Questioning the “silence” of other parties on the SC order, the BJP wondered if they have one standard for Gujarat and another for other states.