P.G. Gavai

P.G. Gavai was the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi when Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984. The Nanavati Commission records that the Lieutenant Governor was then in charge of law and order in Delhi, subject to the general control of the Central Government, and that Gavai held the post "at that time".

What the two commissions record

• Misra Commission (report of August 1986): it quotes Gavai as admitting "a failure in the channel of communication" between local officers and the police. After a meeting of MPs at the Prime Minister's residence, Gavai told the Commission, he asked for a personal interview with Rajiv Gandhi and was given one, and Rajiv Gandhi said he should have acted more swiftly in calling in the Army. The Commission held that the delay in calling in the Army was "squarely" that of the Lieutenant Governor and the Commissioner of Police.
• 3 November 1984: Gavai wrote to the President resigning "out of my sense of moral responsibility", adding that he had no reason to believe he had failed in his duties in the unprecedented circumstances. The Misra Commission called the letter "an admission of moral responsibility" but did not assess how far he was responsible, noting that he had already suffered a major heart attack.
• The Misra Commission accepted Gavai's evidence that on 1 November H.K.L. Bhagat and Jag Pravesh Chandra had been constantly ringing Raj Niwas for help, reasoning that Gavai, because of the treatment meted out to him, was likely to have a grievance against the government, so that his statement "should be accepted as closer to truth".
• Nanavati Commission (report of 2005): Gavai said he told the Commissioner of Police at 7.30 a.m. on 1 November that the Army would have to be called. On 2 November, after touring the affected areas with Bhagat, he was given a hint at the Prime Minister's house that he was no longer required, and Dr P.C. Alexander asked him to go on leave, offering the Union Public Service Commission chair; Gavai said a Lieutenant Governor "either functions or he resigns". Alexander told the Commission that Gavai made no proposal to call the Army, that he did not recall telephoning him about leave or the post, and that the decision to remove him was the Prime Minister's.
• The Nanavati Commission's finding: his explanation was "not satisfactory", he did not give the law and order situation "as much importance" as it demanded, and he "cannot escape the responsibility for its failure"; but he "does not appear to have delayed taking of required actions".

The two reports differ on when his term ended: the Misra Commission's witness list says up to 3 November 1984, the Nanavati Commission "till 2-11-84". M.M.K. Wali, then Home Secretary, was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor on 4 November.

What he is remembered for: as head of Delhi's administration in the first days of the pogrom. Both commissions placed responsibility on him, though on different grounds.