A day after the government appointed an additional chief secretary to probe the deaths at a state-sponsored public function at Kharghar, Nationalist Congress Party boss Sharad Pawar on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry, because ‘no matter how honest the investigating officer is, he won’t give a report against the government he is working for’.

Pawar was addressing a party event in Mumbai on Friday. He said the responsibility of deaths (14 so far) rested with the government. He accused the government of attempting to create a politically conducive situation by gathering so many people in the scorching heat. He demanded that the incident be probed by a retired judge because the officer, “howsoever honest, will not give a report against the government, and the people will never get to know the truth”.