Ahmedabad:
The Gujarat High Court has issued a notice to the Nanavati Commission asking it to explain, by April 1, whether it will summon Narendra Modi as part of its inquiry on the Gujarat riots of 2002.
The Gujarat Chief Minister has been asked to appear this month before a Special Investigating Team (SIT) set up by the Supreme Court. (
Read: Gujarat riots: Modi summoned by Supreme Court panel)
The SIT, headed by K R Raghavan, is looking into 9 cases of communal riots. Modi has been asked to appear in connection with the Ehsan Jafri case. The former Congress MP was burnt alive in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg society. A case filed by his wife charges Modi and many of his ministers and bureaucrats of conspiring to ensure that calls for help by Jafri and others were ignored. (
Read: The Gulbarg Society massacre: What happened)
Modi has not yet indicated whether he will appear before Raghavan's panel. (
Read: Riot panel still waiting for Narendra Modi)
The Nanavati Commission was set up in 2002 to look into the Gujarat riots. Two years ago, the Commission finished the first part of its inquiry. It said there was a "pre-planned conspiracy" that led to the Sabarmati Express being set on fire in Godhra in February, 2002. Fifty-nine people died. The Nanavati Commission said that there was no evidence to prove Modi's involvement and last year, it ruled that there was no need to summon Modi to explain his role. The Gujarat High Court wants to know if that decision still stands.
In part two of its assignment, the Nanavati Commission is now focusing on the communal riots that followed Godhra. More than a thousand people were killed across the state.