( 1 ) IN this petition under Article 226 of theconstitution the petitioner is seeking an appropriate Writ forquashing the Notification No. F. 1/ps/hs/ 87-1227-1244 to 1433dated 2/02/1987 by virtue of which the Lt. Governor,delhi, appointed Mr. Justice M. L. Jain (retd.) (Respondentno. 4) and Mr. A. K. Baneqee (Respondent No. 5) as a Committee, inter alia, to monitor the investigation of criminal casesrelating to criminal offences which had been committed duringthe riots which had taken place after 31/10/1984.

( 2 ) BRIEFLY stated, the facts are that Smt. Indira Gandhi wasassassinated on the morning of 31/10/1984 at her residence at New Delhi. The news of her death was released inthe evening and it is alleged by the petitioner that, in consequence of the assassination, riots took place in Delhi between 31/10/1984 and 3/11/1984. During the saidriots there was loss to life and property.

( 3 ) IN an effort to bring to an end the disturbances in Punjab, and for the sake of solution in Punjab on 24/07/1985an accord was signed between the Prime Minister of India and"late Shri Harcharan Singh Longowal. This accord was precededby several meetings between the leaders and in pursuance tothe negotiations the Central Government on 26/04/1985appointed an one man Commission of Mr. Justice Ranganathmisra of the Supreme Court under Section 3 of the Commissionsof Inquiry Act The terms of reference of the Commission wereas follows:-

(I) to inquire into the allegations in regard to the incidents of organised violence which took place indelhi following the assassination of the late Primeminister, Smt. Indira Gandhi.

(II) to recommend measures which may be adopted forprevention of recurrence of such incidents.

( 4 ) AS a result of the accord the Commission s sphere wasextended to the riots which had taken place in Kanpur andbokaro as well. As a result thereof a revised notification dated 3/11/1985 was issued, and the first term of referenceof the Commission of Inquiry now reads as follows :-

"to inquire into the allegations in regard to the incidentsof organised violence which took place in Delhi andthe disturbances which took place in the Bokarotehsil, in Chas Tehsil and at Kanpur following theassassination of the late Prime Minister, Shrimatiindira Gandhi".

VARIOUS parties appeared before the Commission and it submitted its report in November, 19s6.

( 5 ) IN January, 1987 the aforesaid report was tabled on thefloor of the Lok Sabha. The said report dealt with the incidentswhich had taken place at Delhi and it was found that the number of persons killed was not below 2370 and not more than3874. No definite figure was, however, determined by thecommission. It was also observed by the Commission that"these incidents of 31/10/1984, appear to have been byway of involuntary reaction of a deep sence of grief, anguishand hatred for the assassins. There can be no scope to contend,and much less to accept, that at the initial stage on 31/10/1984, the violence that took place was organised".

( 6 ) AFTER referring to the incidents which took place subsequent to 31/10/1984 the Commission came to the conclusion which is given below:-

"for reasons indicated elsewhere, the Commission hascome to the conclusion that violence was not orga-nised by the Congress (1) party or any official whomatters in the party".

IT further observed that "the riots after spontaneous origingot into channelised methods in the bands of gangsters. Itwould not be wrong to say that there was organised violence at. Delhi and that was done by the anti-social elements and in theriots, thousands of people who do not really belong to the classification of anti-ocials did participate. Many of these participants were people from the lower ranks of the Congress (I)patry and sympathisers".

( 7 ) FROM the aforesaid conclusions it appears that the; Commission absolved the Congress party and senior local leaders ofthe said party of any responsibility, but it came to the conclusion that