In the normal course governments prefer to allow the law take its course, but the Velim church attack case was different from the start. On Tuesday the government withdrew a criminal revision petition filed against the order of the JMFC to drop charges of attempt to murder and causing grievous hurt. With the withdrawal of this petition, the sword of Damocles, which hung precariously over the heads of two senior priests and several other residents of Velim, has been removed. The irony here is that this sword was removed by the JMFC in November last year through an order, but it was restored when the government chose to challenge the order.
No matter how sharp a scalpel one uses, it would be difficult to excise the political dimension from the Velim church attack case. At the political level, the raid on the then Velim parish priest’s residence, was seen as an affront by the minority community. How or why that raid was conducted is mired in controversy. What we have been told is that the raid was conducted on the basis of allegations that money was being used to influence the course of the elections in the Velim constituency and that the residence of the parish priest was in some way connected with this underhand operation. According to the police, a crowd gathered and the raiding party was assaulted.
This was not a matter to be swept under the carpet. That it was destined for a trial in court was certain. However, the problem lay in the charge-sheet. In 2015, the minority community was shocked to learn that the charge of causing grievous hurt and attempt to murder was levelled against them, and more importantly against two priests. Nobody denies that the incident took place. The problem lay with the exaggerated claims in the chargesheet. These claims were rightly struck down by the JMFC in November last year, who pointed out that the charges of attempt to murder and causing grievous hurt were not maintainable because the three policemen had sustained simple injuries. This observation alone punched a wide hole in the chargesheet and laid bare the attempt of the police and prosecution department to try the priests and residents on charges which were not supported by the evidence.
Throughout the progress of the case appeals were made to the political leadership to withdraw the case. An attempt was made but the same was thwarted by the victims who rightly believed the case ought to be tried. The case will now be reverted to the JMFC for trial and the same will begin, but the charges are of a lesser magnitude. In a way this is a partial relief because the accused will still have to face a trial which will be lengthy and tedious, but in the end we will get to know the real story behind the raid.
