Ahmedabad:
A metropolitan court will today hear a petition filed by Gujarat riots victim, Zakiya Jafri, seeking details of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on the 2002 Gulbarg Housing Society massacre. The report, which was submitted in court in sealed cover last week, has reportedly given a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others on the allegations of complicity in the 2002 post-Godhra riots in the state.
Ms Jafri's petition seeks to know whether the SIT has filed its latest report in compliance with a Supreme Court order which states that the investigating panel will have to submit in court not just the report, but all relevant documents including investigation case papers.
"I have faith on court. I have faith on god that he would do justice. If the case would not be in favor of me this time then I have strength to fight again," Ms Jafri said today ahead of the hearing.
Ms Jafri is the wife of former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri, who was among 69 people allegedly burnt alive by a rioting mob on February 28, 2002 at the Gulbarg Housing Society in Ahmedabad where the Jafris lived. Ms Jafri alleges that when the mob attacked, her husband made frantic calls to the police and even to the Chief Minister's office for help but to no avail. Ms Jafri alleges that the authoprities did not help the riot victims because there was a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots in which more than 1,200 people were killed across the state. For many years now she has taken her legal battle against Mr Modi and 62 other senior government functionaries from court to court.
She had moved the Supreme Court in 2008 after the Gujarat High Court dismissed her petition. The court aksed the SIT to investigate her charges; the SIT submitted a report in the court, after questioning many people including Mr Modi, in which it reportedly said that there was no prosecutable evidence against the chief minister.
The Supreme Court had then asked amicus curie Raju Ramchandran to independently assess the SIT report. Mr Ramcharndran visited Gujarat, interacted with several persons as well as witnesses, and then submitted his report to the Supreme Court in which he reportedly differed on some points with the SIT. Mr Ramachandran reportedly suggested that Mr Modi could be prosecuted.
Both the SIT and Mr Ramchandran also met suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who in his affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, has said that Mr Modi, in a meeting held at his residence on February 27, 2002, asked the police to "allow Hindus to went their anger" after 59 people, most of them Kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya, were killed in the Godhra train burning incident a few hours earlier.
The SIT in its report submitted to the Supreme Court had reportedly said that Mr Bhatt was not a reliable witness as his claim of being present in that meeting was allegedly refuted by nine other senior police and home department officials who attended the meeting. The court had refused to take Mr Bhatt's affidavit on record. In its latest report filed last week in the Ahmedabad trial court, the SIT, sources say, has again said that senior officers present at that meeting called by Mr Modi say Mr Bhatt was not present.
On September 12 last year, after going through the amicus curae's report, the Supreme Court had refrained from passing any order in the case and asked the SIT to submit its final report in the Gujarat magisterial court. Mr Modi and his party the BJP had intrepreted the court's order as a vindication of their stand that Zakiya Jafri's allegations have no merit. Mr Modi had tweeted, "God is great."
The SIT took almost five months after the Supreme Court order to file its report on Wednesday last week. As word spread that the SIT had reportedly given Mr Modi a clean chit, the BJP said it was time to close the case; Mr Modi quoted Swami Vivekanand to tweet "What work you do expect from the men of little hearts? Nothing in the world...!"
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"What work you do expect from the men of little hearts? Nothing in the world...!"<a href="http://t.co/Gx3qWVGs" title="http://bit.ly/xYiTiB">bit.ly/xYiTiB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523vivekananda150">#vivekananda150</a></p>— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/168174894981464064" data-datetime="2012-02-11T03:29:54+00:00">February 11, 2012</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Zakiya Jafri said she would fight on and filed her petition seeking to know the contents of the SIT report and to know whether the SIT has filed its latest report in compliance with a Supreme Court order.
The Supreme Court had asked the magisterial court to hear the petitioners before a closure summary in the case, even if the report was in favour of Mr Modi and the others. The petitioners will have the right to challenge the decision of the local court on the report in the High Court and then Supreme Court.
(With inputs from PTI)
Ms Jafri's petition seeks to know whether the SIT has filed its latest report in compliance with a Supreme Court order which states that the investigating panel will have to submit in court not just the report, but all relevant documents including investigation case papers.
"I have faith on court. I have faith on god that he would do justice. If the case would not be in favor of me this time then I have strength to fight again," Ms Jafri said today ahead of the hearing.
Ms Jafri is the wife of former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri, who was among 69 people allegedly burnt alive by a rioting mob on February 28, 2002 at the Gulbarg Housing Society in Ahmedabad where the Jafris lived. Ms Jafri alleges that when the mob attacked, her husband made frantic calls to the police and even to the Chief Minister's office for help but to no avail. Ms Jafri alleges that the authoprities did not help the riot victims because there was a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots in which more than 1,200 people were killed across the state. For many years now she has taken her legal battle against Mr Modi and 62 other senior government functionaries from court to court.
She had moved the Supreme Court in 2008 after the Gujarat High Court dismissed her petition. The court aksed the SIT to investigate her charges; the SIT submitted a report in the court, after questioning many people including Mr Modi, in which it reportedly said that there was no prosecutable evidence against the chief minister.
The Supreme Court had then asked amicus curie Raju Ramchandran to independently assess the SIT report. Mr Ramcharndran visited Gujarat, interacted with several persons as well as witnesses, and then submitted his report to the Supreme Court in which he reportedly differed on some points with the SIT. Mr Ramachandran reportedly suggested that Mr Modi could be prosecuted.
Both the SIT and Mr Ramchandran also met suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who in his affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, has said that Mr Modi, in a meeting held at his residence on February 27, 2002, asked the police to "allow Hindus to went their anger" after 59 people, most of them Kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya, were killed in the Godhra train burning incident a few hours earlier.
The SIT in its report submitted to the Supreme Court had reportedly said that Mr Bhatt was not a reliable witness as his claim of being present in that meeting was allegedly refuted by nine other senior police and home department officials who attended the meeting. The court had refused to take Mr Bhatt's affidavit on record. In its latest report filed last week in the Ahmedabad trial court, the SIT, sources say, has again said that senior officers present at that meeting called by Mr Modi say Mr Bhatt was not present.
On September 12 last year, after going through the amicus curae's report, the Supreme Court had refrained from passing any order in the case and asked the SIT to submit its final report in the Gujarat magisterial court. Mr Modi and his party the BJP had intrepreted the court's order as a vindication of their stand that Zakiya Jafri's allegations have no merit. Mr Modi had tweeted, "God is great."
The SIT took almost five months after the Supreme Court order to file its report on Wednesday last week. As word spread that the SIT had reportedly given Mr Modi a clean chit, the BJP said it was time to close the case; Mr Modi quoted Swami Vivekanand to tweet "What work you do expect from the men of little hearts? Nothing in the world...!"
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"What work you do expect from the men of little hearts? Nothing in the world...!"<a href="http://t.co/Gx3qWVGs" title="http://bit.ly/xYiTiB">bit.ly/xYiTiB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523vivekananda150">#vivekananda150</a></p>— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/168174894981464064" data-datetime="2012-02-11T03:29:54+00:00">February 11, 2012</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Zakiya Jafri said she would fight on and filed her petition seeking to know the contents of the SIT report and to know whether the SIT has filed its latest report in compliance with a Supreme Court order.
The Supreme Court had asked the magisterial court to hear the petitioners before a closure summary in the case, even if the report was in favour of Mr Modi and the others. The petitioners will have the right to challenge the decision of the local court on the report in the High Court and then Supreme Court.
(With inputs from PTI)
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