SC dismisses petition against clean chit to Modi in riots
A plea challenging the Special Investigation Team (SIT)'s clean chit to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others during the 2002 riots was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Friday. Upholding the decision of the magistrate in accepting the final report submitted by the SIT and rejecting the protest petition, the top court called Zakia Jafri's plea "devoid of merit."
SC bench said plea was devoid of merit
A Supreme Court bench of justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and CT Ravikumar said the appeal filed by Jafri, the wife of Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the violence at Ahmedabad's Gulberg Society in 2002, was "devoid of merits and deserved to be dismissed." Jafri had challenged the 2017 Gujarat High Court order rejecting her plea against the SIT decision.
Rohatgi says SC should endorse the Gujarat HC's decision
Appearing for the SIT, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said that the SC should endorse the Gujarat HC's decision. Representing the petitioners, senior advocate Kapil Sibal cited the work done by the second petitioner social activist Teesta Setalvad's organizations. He added that the matter can be closed, "but if you feel that offenses have been committed then who is responsible is a matter of investigation."
Who was Ehsan Jafri and what exactly happened?
Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, a day after the S-6 Coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra, killing 59 people and triggering Gujarat riots.
SIT gave Modi clean chit in 2012
On February 8, 2012, SIT filed a closure report giving a clean chit to the then CM Modi and 63 others, including senior government officials, saying there was no prosecutable evidence against them. Zakia filed a petition in the apex court in 2018 challenging the Gujarat High Court's October 5, 2017 order rejecting her plea against the decision of the SIT.
