Kalyan Yadav SPKAY at 04:44, 12 October 2025

2025-10-12T04:44:02Z

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{{Short description|Indian umbrella organization}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Citizen's Justice Committee
| logo =
| type = [[Non-profit organization|Non-profit]]
| founded =
| location =
| key_people = [[Sarv Mittra Sikri]], [[H. S. Phoolka]], [[Rajinder Sachar]], [[V. M. Tarkunde]], [[Kuldip Nayar]], [[Soli Sorabjee]]
| fields =
| homepage =
}}

'''Citizen's Justice Committee''' (commonly known as CJC) is an Indian 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,<ref name=Tribune-1>{{cite news | title = Justice Narula passes away| publisher = The Tribune (Chandigarh)| date = 1985-11-07}}</ref> by [[H. S. Phoolka]] 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<ref name=firstsitting>{{cite news | title = Judicial inquiry into November 1984 riots| work =BBC Summary of World Broadcasts | publisher = The Press Trust of India | date = 1985-07-31}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news | last = Tenorio |first = Vyvyan | title = Victimized Sikhs await redress | pages = 19| publisher = Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA) | date = 1986-06-06}}</ref>

==Members==
The CJC was chaired by Justice [[Sarv Mittra Sikri]].<ref name="Jr2011"/> 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]].<ref name=Tribune-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.<ref name=Tribune-1/>

==Disbanding==
By 2000 the CJC had become largely defunct. Of the core team of the CJC its chairman Sikri had died in 1992, whilst [[Soli Sorabjee]] had been re-appointed as [[Attorney-General for India]] and [[V. M. Tarkunde]] had retired. Two other members of the CJC, [[Rajinder Sachar]] [[Kuldip Nayar]], joined a new organization set up to replace the CJC, the Carnage Justice Committee.<ref name="Jr2011">{{cite book|author=George H. Gadbois, Jr|title=Judges of the Supreme Court of India: 1950–1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIAyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT110|date=2 May 2011|publisher=OUP India|isbn=978-0-19-908838-6|page=110}}</ref><ref name="MittaPhoolka2013">{{cite book|author1=Manoj Mitta|author2=H.S. Phoolka|title=When a Tree Shook Delhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ot6mBAAAQBAJ|date=19 December 2013|publisher=Roli Books Private Limited|isbn=978-93-5194-043-2}}</ref>

==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.
* [[Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Human rights organisations based in India]]
[[Category:1984 anti-Sikh riots]]

Citizens Justice Committee - Revision history

Kalyan Yadav SPKAY at 04:44, 12 October 2025