Your Lordship, you are in police records

bangalore: kazia mohammed muzzammil, who was recently dismissed as sessions judge, figures as a ``b-grade goonda'' on the records of the bhatkal police station in uttara kannada district. muzzammil, who was appointed city civil and sessions judge in 1996, was dismissed on march 24 by governor v.s.rama devi on the recommendation of the karnataka high court.he figured in the ``goonda list'' in 1993, soon after the bhatkal communal riots in which 19 people were killed. his appointment as sessions judge was made by then governor khurshed alam khan on the basis of the high court's recommendation which, in turn, was made on the basis of the clean chit given to muzzammil by a senior police officer. police stations maintain a history sheeters list, a rowdy list and a goonda list. the history sheeters list includes those with history of thefts and robbery. the rowdy list includes those involved in scuffles and rioting, while the goonda list includes communal trouble-makers. sensitive police stations divide the goonda list further into three categories: a, b and c grades. a grade goondas are the conspirators and behind-the-scenes perpetrators of communal riots, while those on the b-list are people who ``actively'' participate in the riots. the c-list includes those who are not active but are second-line people who take part in the riots. the inclusion of muzzammil in the b-list of goondas means that he actively participated in the riots. the recruitment process that led to muzzammil's appointment as sessions judge began in 1995. his name was referred to then karwar sp om prakash for routine ``police verification''. what is surprising is that prakash, a 1981 batch ips officer from bihar, cleared muzzammil's name without referring the matter to the bhatkal police station, under whose limits he was a resident. moreover, a judicial commission of inquiry that probed the bhatkal riots blamed prakash, among others, for the violence. things came to light with karnataka chief justice y. bhaskara rao, who took over about one and a half years ago, taking note of some confidential records that came to him saying that muzzammil figured on the goonda list. after an inquiry by the high court's registrar, the chief justice wrote to the governor, seeking his dismissal. prakash, who is at present a dig in fire force and home guards in bangalore, was not available for comment. on his part, muzzammil said he was not aware of the grounds under which he was dismissed. muzzammil has challenged the governor's notification dismissing him. but a high court judge, while hearing muzzammil's writ, refused to stay the orders and posted the case for june 26. meanwhile, senior officials said parties adversely affected by the verdicts of muzzammil could ask for a revision of their cases during his four year stint as judge.