Mumbai:
Reacting to an Ahmedabad court verdict that rejected a petition seeking the prosecution of Chief Minister
Narendra Modi in the 2002 communal riots case, activist Mallika Sarabhai today said that it was "silly to have expected anything else but a clean chit" for Mr Modi from a Gujarat court.
Yesterday, in a major relief for Mr Modi, a court in Ahmedabad accepted the clean chit given to him in the 2002 communal violence in his state and rejected a petition filed against him by Zakia Jafri, whose husband Ehsan Jafri was burnt alive during the riots.
(Narendra Modi will not face charges in 2002 riots, tweets satyamev jayate)Mrs Jafri had challenged the closure report of a Supreme-Court-appointed Special Investigation Team that said there was no prosecutable evidence against Mr Modi.
While pronouncing its order, the court said there was no evidence of a conspiracy on part of the chief minister and his cabinet, who had been accused of delaying calling in the army to check the riots. "There are enough checks and balances guaranteed by the Constitution so that the executive doesn't subvert the judicial process," the judge said.
Reacting to the judge's observations, Ms Sarabhai said, "The courts may not find evidence, but let Narendra Modi ask his conscience." She also added that she has "great optimism in India's good judges" and is hence "not giving up this long battle."
After the court order yesterday, Mr Modi, who is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for national elections due by May, tweeted, "Satyamev Jayate! Truth alone triumphs."