New Delhi, March 26 (IANS): The Supreme Court Wednesday rejected the plea for CBI/SIT probe into the Muzaffarnagar communal riots that took place in September 2013.

The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam said that if the centre and the state intelligence agencies had smelled of what was happening at the ground level, then the riots could have been prevented.

Declining the prayer for CBI/SIT probe, the court referred to a number of steps that the state police has taken to deal with the situation and the subsequent actions.

The court said that the state had failed to protect the serious violation of fundamental rights of the people and said it was duty-bound to protect and uphold the people's rights.

In a reference to a state government circular saying that the relief would be available to Muslim victims only, the court in one of its several directions said that the availability of relief should not be on the basis of victim's religious denomination and it should be provided to genuine victims.

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