Scheduled Castes Commission head accuses enquiry panel of bias on Vemula probe

NEW DELHI: Outgoing National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman P L Punia has accused the government-appointed Justice Roopanwal Commission of bias in declaring Rohith Vemula a non-Dalit.

“The retired judge (Justice A K Roopanwal) was not judicious. He was hired to put a seal of approval on what the BJP leaders had been saying all along,” Punia said.

Justice Roopanwal Commission was appointed by HRD ministry to probe the circumstances leading up to Rohith Vemula’s suicide in Hyderabad University.

Punia’s remarks come in the wake of news reports that Commission has observed that Vemula did not belong to a Scheduled Caste.

Punia raised questions about the intentions of the Commission. “Under what circumstancs have they investigated the question of caste?

There were only two terms of reference – to examine the circumstances leading to Rohith Vemula’s suicide and scrutinize the grievance redressal mechanism of the university.

The terms of reference do not include the assessment of caste or findings of the case. It seems that the findings of the commission are only on Vemula’s caste,” Punia said.