New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that it will no longer monitor the case against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the communal riots at Gulbarag Society - one of the epicentres of the riots that ravaged Gujarat in 2002, killing 1200 people, most of them Muslims. The Supreme Court's verdict asks a Gujarat court to decide whether Mr Modi's role in the riots needs to be investigated.
Following is the list of dates in the Gulbarg Society riot case:
February 27, 2002: Godhra train carnage
February-May, 2002: Riots take place in different parts of Gujarat
February 28, 2002: Former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri is killed in Gulbarg Society riot in Ahmedabad
June 8, 2006: Jafri's widow Zakia registers her complaint against Narendra Modi and 61 others
November 2, 2007: Gujarat High Court rejects Ms Jafri's plea for registration of FIR against Mr Modi
March 3, 2008: Supreme Court issues notice to the Centre and Gujarat government on Ms Jafri's plea and an amicus curiae was appointed to assist the Court
March 26, 2008: Court appoints a four-member Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director R K Raghavan to conduct investigation in these cases
April 27, 2009: The Supreme Court directs the SIT to look into the complaint of Ms Jafri.
May 12, 2010: The SIT files its first report before the Supreme Court saying further investigation against certain police officials and a minister in the state cabinet is required
November 17, 2010: The SIT files another report after further investigation
November 23, 2010: Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran replaces Harish N Salve as amicus curiae after he expresses unwillingness to continue
March 15, 2011: The Supreme Court directs the SIT to further probe the case on the basis of note given by the amicus
April 24, 2011: The SIT submits its report
May 5, 2011: The Supreme Court asks the amicus to make an independent assessment of the SIT probe
July 25, 2011: Amicus Curiae submits his final report
September 12, 2011: The Supreme Court refuses to pass order on Mr Modi and directs concerned Magistrate of Ahmedabad to decide the case