Meerut: Five years after the infamous Muzaffarnagar riots, which saw 62 people being killed and over 50,000 displaced, the district court is yet to frame charges against 14 accused even after 50 hearings. This happened because it is mandatory for all accused to be present before the court when charges are framed. And, there has not been a single time in those 50 court hearings when all the 14 were present at once.The accused include sitting BJP MPs Sanjeev Balyan (Muzaffarnagar) and Kunwar Bhartendra (Bijnor), serving UP cabinet minister and Thanabhawan MLA Suresh Rana and Sadhvi Prachi, who were booked under IPC’s sections 147 (rioting), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, etc.), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty).The case (number 173/2013) is among 131 cases that UP government had announced to withdraw in March this year, kicking up a political storm.According to Chandraveer Singh, defence lawyer in the case, “Chargesheet in this case was filed in June 2014 and ever since, the court has not been able to frame charges against the accused because they failed to make appearance all at once.”On Friday, when the court of additional civil judge Ritu Nagar held its 50th hearing, it couldn’t again frame the charges as Suresh Rana, Bhartendra and Sadhvi Prachi were absent.Delay in justice, meanwhile, is weakening the resolve of the victims’ relatives to continue their long fight.Rehana Adeeb, director, Astitva Foundation that works for the rehabilitation of riot victims in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, said, “These are just delaying tactics. After acquittal of Swami Aseemanand (accused in Mecca Masjid blast) and Maya Kodnani (accused in Gujarat riots), our faith in judiciary is fast corroding. It’s just a matter of time when Muzaffarnagar riot cases will also end up like that.”When asked about his absence, Bijnor MP Kunwar Bhartendra told TOI, “First of all, these cases were politically motivated. So anyway, they are going to die their natural death. That much said, I have always been very regular in the hearings. Only during parliament sessions or important engagements, I excuse myself from appearance in the court. For instance, on Friday, I was with a large number of villagers for providing them with gas connections after directions from Prime Minister’s Office.”

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