Citizen's Justice Committee (commonly known as CJC) is an Indian umbrella organization of various

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

organizations and is known for ''

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

'' representing the

1984 anti-Sikh riots The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...

victims in their legal battle to gain justice.

Formation

The CJC was formed in May 1985, by

H. S. Phoolka Harvinder Singh Phoolka, is a senior advocate of Delhi High Court, politician, human rights activist, and author. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He is known for spearheading what is described as ...

who became a counselor for the Citizens Justice Committee (CJC). The first activity of CJC was helping the victims of 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 In protest, the CJC withdrew its cooperation from the Mishra Commission on 31 March 1986 because it disagreed with the commissions decision to hold secret proceedings. The CJC then started filing individual court cases.

Members

The CJC was chaired by Justice

Sarv Mittra Sikri Sarv Mittra Sikri (26 April 1908 – 24 September 1992) was the 13th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from 22 January 1971 until his retirement on 25 April 1973. He began his legal career in 1930 as an attorney practicing at the ...

. The CJC membership included Senior advocate of

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

, Justice Ranjit Singh Narula,

Soli Sorabjee Soli Jehangir Sorabjee, AM (9 March 193030 April 2021) was an Indian jurist who served as Attorney-General for India from 1989 to 1990, and again from 1998 to 2004. In 2002, he received the Padma Vibhushan for his defence of the freedom of exp ...

, General

Jagjit Singh Aurora Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora (also Jagjit Singh Aurora)Both spellings are used in official documents; though "Aurora" predominates in the listings in the pre-Independence ''Indian Army List'', as do those in the ''Gazette of India''. ...

(Bangladesh war veteran), Justice

V. M. Tarkunde Vithal Mahadeo Tarkunde (3 July 1909 in Saswad – 22 March 2004 in Delhi), was a prominent Indian lawyer, civil rights activist, and humanist leader and has been referred to as the "Father of the Civil Liberties movement" in India and a former j ...

and journalist/columnist

Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...

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.

Disbanding

By 2000 the CJC had become largely defunct. Of the core team of the CJC its chairman Sikri had passed away in 1992, whilst

had been re-appointed as Attorney-General for India and

had retired. Two other members of the CJC,

Rajinder Sachar Rajindar Sachar (22 December 1923 – 20 April 2018) was an Indian lawyer and a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. He was a member of United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and also served as a ...

Kuldip Nayar Kuldip Nayar (14 August 1923 – 23 August 2018) was an Indian journalist, syndicated columnist, human rights activist, author and former High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom noted for his long career as a left-wing political comme ...

, joined a new organization set up to replace the CJC, the Carnage Justice Committee.

References