Zakia Jafri's name was used by certain forces to oppose govt, says Mukul Rohatgi on Gujarat riots case
India Today
The former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said that Zakia Jafri's name was used by certain forces to oppose the then government in Gujarat riots case.
Mukul Rohatgi, the former attorney general of India, said that Zakia Jafri's name was used by certain forces who opposed the then government and police officials. Jafri is the petitioner in the Gujarat riots case.
Reacting to the Supreme Court's dismissal of an appeal against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the case, Rohatgi said, "It is a pat on the back of the Special Investigation Team or SIT. They were under testing circumstances and in testing times. Everything they did --filing of chargesheets, investigation, examining every angle--was under the supervision of the SC. Not once did SC say they were discharging duties impartially."
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"It is obvious that Zakia Jafri was not the real applicant in the proceedings. She may be the unfortunate victim, but her name was used by certain forces who were opposed to the then government, senior officers of police and the judgment goes on to say that they should be unmasked and put in the dock," he added.
On Friday, the top court praised the SIT and pulled up the appellant for "bordering on undermining the integrity and sincerity of investigators". Congress leader Ehsan Jafri’s widow, Zakia Jafri, wanted "the larger conspiracy in the case" to be probed.
"Hundreds of criminal cases were registered after the riots and they were reopened by the SIT. They added hundreds of more accused, trials have been completed, people have been convicted and some appeals have been pending. That is justice at the end. The idea is to do what? Keep the image of riots in the minds of the public for the next 50 years? This was the attempt," Rohatgi added.
Ehsan Jafri, the former Congress MP, was among the 68 people killed in the violence, a day after the Godhra train incident. The S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra, killing 59 people and triggering riots in Gujarat in 2002.
