With no official word yet on the report of SIT that probed allegations of involvement of chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, two separate applications were filed on Thursday before a magisterial court seeking copies of the final report submitted on Wednesday.
The court of metropolitan magistrate M.S. Bhatt issued notices to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and posted the hearing to February 13 following the applications moved by social activists Teesta Setalvad and Mukul Sinha.
The Supreme Court-appointed SIT on Wednesday filed the final report in a sealed cover on the complaint by Zakia Jafri, wife of ex-Congress MP Eshan Jafri who was among the 69 persons killed in the Gulberg Housing society riots. Around 1,200 people were killed in the communal riots.
Ms Jafri in her complaint had sought prosecution of Mr Modi, along with 57 others, for aiding and abetting communal riots.
There was no official confirmation whether or not the cases against Mr Modi have been closed in the report or he has been given a clean chit. The magistrate will now have to examine the report. “We would like to see the report because at the moment we are concerned whether the order of Supreme Court has been complied with and whether or not all documents have been placed before the magistrate’s court,” said Ms Setalvad, voicing apprehensions on the SIT action.
Reactions to the SIT report were being made based on media reports which suggested that Modi may have got relief.
“We had submitted all the facts to SIT, and then they have submitted such a report, it is very disappointing,” Ms Jafri told reporters.
Mr Sinha said, “At the moment we are demanding the copy of the report because without knowing the contents we are not able to move forward.” On September 12 last year, the Supreme Court had refused to pass any order on Mr Modi’s alleged inaction in containing riots in 2002 and left it to the concerned magistrate’s court to decide the course of action against him on the basis of the SIT report.
Ms Jafri had told the top court that a proper probe should be carried out by the SIT, headed by former CBI chief R.K. Raghavan, into her allegations of inaction and various acts of omission and commission by Mr Modi and others during the riots.
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Congress plays down Reports of sit clean chit
New Delhi, Feb. 9: The Congress on Thursday downplayed media reports about the SIT giving a clean chit to Narendra Modi in the post-Godhra riots, saying the agency’s finding is “only one input” in the Supreme Court monitored probe and lambasted the BJP for demanding a closure of the case on this basis. Asking the media to be “much more careful” in approaching such issues, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi also pointed out that the division bench of the high court has indicted Mr Modi for “inaction” during the riots. — PTI