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The Rediff Special/ Promilla Kallan

As time runs out, the Jain Commission is trying to get hold of missing files

The Jain Commission inquiry report, supposed to have been 'leaked' to a prominent magazine, need not have caused such a furore. Many of its hearings were open to the press at the Vigyan Bhavan. However, not many mediamen occupied the seats made available for them.

The interim report, which Justice M C Jain took 66 months to prepare, takes cognisance of the sequence of events which led to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. The final report, likely to be ready by March, will contain the larger conspiracy angle and name many agencies, both Indian and foreign, involved in the killing.

The report has made it clear that Indian intelligence agencies were very much aware of the grave danger to Rajiv Gandhi's life. The last signal to this effect was given just a day before the sad event in Sriperumbadur. That no serious attention was paid to provide additional security for his protection made it easy for the killers.

Many more facts have yet to be gathered. Who in the Congress pressed Rajiv Gandhi to go down south to Sriperumbadur? Who in the party was responsible for leading the human bomb Dhanu to the meeting there? Who raised money for the LTTE to undertake the killing?

About half a dozen files containing important information are said to be missing. At the various hearings open to the press, I was able to gather from Justice Jain's remarks that essential documents were not being made available to him despite repeated requests. And as time runs out, the Commission is trying to get hold of these. In a few cases, the files which were handed over had been tampered with. Some portions were evidently removed and the pages renumbered. Fortunately, in camera evidence by various people has made some of this missing data available to the Commission.

One witness said he had gone to London to attend a meeting where Chandra Swami was also present. Chandra Swami, the witness said, offered to raise money for Rajiv's elimination. Then followed hearings at which the Commission questioned Chandra Swami. This was open to the press. Chandra Swami evaded the questions, saying he just did not remember anything! Justice Jain, definitely, did not have an easy time preparing his report.

Even otherwise, the P V Narasimha Rao government which set up the Commission did not provide it with adequate staff. Its office took sometime to be made available. And several attempts were made to wind up the Commission on one pretext or another. Rao's proximity to Chandra Swami is well known.

During the past year or so, Rajiv Gandhi's daughter Priyanka was seen attending some of the hearings. That certainly helped matters. Fewer people now tried to evade coming forward as witnesses. A larger section of the press began to cover the hearings. But still, certain key witnesses did not turn up, or not as often as they were required to. By and large, however, important witnesses did appear before the Jain Commission and handed in their affidavits. Two former prime ministers, V P Singh and Chandra Shekhar, and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi were among them.

There has been criticism that Justice Jain was moving very slowly. But it cannot be denied that nobody was making things easy for the Commission. Its chief police officer Amit Verma was transferred and was not suitably replaced. Finally, Justice Jain was able to get him back after much time had lapsed. It was Verma who travelled to south India and interviewed those witnesses who did not, or could not, attend the New Delhi hearings. He also helped write the report which runs into 5,000-odd pages.

Justice Jain, a family man has spent almost all his time in Delhi -- working. Being remarkably 'correct', he has hardly met anyone. On occasional weekends, he has visited Rajasthan, from where he hails and where his son works as an advocate.

The Rediff Special

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