Citizen's Justice Committee

Citizen's Justice Committee (commonly known as CJC) is an umbrella organization of various human rights organizations and is known for pro bono representing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims in their legal battle to gain justice.

Formation

The CJC was formed in May 1985,^[1] by H. S. Phoolka who became a counselor for the Citizens Justice Committee (CJC). The first activity of CJC was helping the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots file affidavits and testify before the first formal sitting of the Mishra Commission on 29 July 1985;

Withdrawal from Mishra Commission

The proceedings of the sitting of Mishra Commission were not made public or open to the press^[2] In protest, the CJC withdrew its cooperation from the Mishra Commission on March 31, 1986 because it disagreed with the commissions decision to hold secret proceedings. The CJC then started filing individual court cases.^[3]

Members

The CJC membership included Senior advocate of Delhi High Court H. S. Phoolka, Justice Ranjit Singh Narula, Soli Sorabjee, General Jagjit Singh Aurora (Bangladesh war veteran), Justice V. M. Tarkunde and journalist/columnist Khushwant Singh.^[1]

Activism

The CJC has been representing the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre victims before various judicial commissions that have been formed for inquiry into the massacres.^[1]

See also

• 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims have been represented by CJC since its inception.
• H. S. Phoolka spearheaded the formation of CJC.
• People's Union for Civil Liberties - some members of CJC also worked for this organization.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Justice Narula passes away". The Tribune (Chandigarh). 1985-11-07. 
2. ^ "Judicial inquiry into November 1984 riots". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts (The Press Trust of India). 1985-07-31. 
3. ^ Tenorio, Vyvyan (1986-06-06). "Victimized Sikhs await redress". Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA). pp. 19.