SC confirms clean chit to PM Modi in Gujarat riot case, rejects plea against high court order
India Today
The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by Zakia Jafri that questioned the clean chit by the special investigation team to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others for their alleged role in the violence.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by deceased Congress leader Ehsaan Jafri's widow Zakia Jafri that questioned the clean chit by the special investigation team to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others for their alleged role in the violence.
Ehsan Jafri was killed during the violence at Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002.
The court had reserved its order on a petition filed by Zakia Jafri against the Gujarat High Court’s order, rejecting her plea against the SIT decision, giving a clean chit to PM Narendra, who was the Gujarat CM in 2002, and 63 others in December last year.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the SIT, told the bench that the Supreme Court should endorse the trial court and the Gujarat High Court’s decision on Jafri’s plea otherwise it would result in an endless exercise that could go on because of some motives of social activist Teesta Setalvad, who is Petitioner Number 2 in the petition.
Kapil Sibal who appeared for Zakia Jafri told the top court that the SIT did not conduct an investigation but did a collaborative exercise and its probe was fraught with omissions to protect conspirators. He also said that officials of SIT as well as the police were “rewarded handsomely”.
