The Commission has rejected an application filed by the Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab (CIIP) for an inquiry into the manner and method of deaths in the Punjab Mass Cremations case and whether there was a pattern to the killing of those "illegally cremated" by the Punjab police.
In its order, on 11 November 2005, the Commission observed that the application filed by the petitioners asking for an enlarged scope of enquiry contained no fresh material and overlooked the Commission's earlier orders of 4 August 1997, 24 March 1999, 15 February 2001 and 11 November 2004. The Commission, in its order observed, "The manner in which repeatedly settled issues regarding the scope of inquiry before the Commission have been sought to be reopened by the CIIP creates an impression that it perhaps is not sensitive to the need for an expeditious grant of compensation and rehabilitation to the affected families." The Commission said that the repeated petitions filed by the CIIP had delayed consideration of "grant of compensation to the legal heirs" or next of kin of the deceased whose bodies had been unlawfully cremated as "unidentified".
The Commission said that its award of 11 November 2004 had already clarified that while granting monetary relief to each of the kin of those found to have been illegally cremated by the Punjab police, it was not expressing any opinion about the culpability of any police officer or official. Pointing out that most of the victims' families had already received compensation, the Commission said that a clarification of its order was not required.