2002 Gujarat Riots Case: Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing Till Nov 26 on Petition Challenging Clean Chit to PM Modi
The bench said it would decided before beginning the proceedings whether social activist Teesta Setalvad should be allowed to appear as a second petitioner.
New Delhi, November 19: The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by 2002 Gujarat riots victim Zakia Jafri, challenging the clean chit issued to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Special Investigation Team in 2013. The bench of Justices AM Khanvilkar and Deepak Gupta, while admitting the plea, posted the matter for hearing on November 26.
"The matter will take some time for hearing. The plea will be heard on November 26," said Justice Khanvilkar as he announced the deferment of the proceeding. Need No Patriotism Certificate From Those Accused in Godhra Riots: Sidhu's Stinging Jibe at PM Modi.
Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the SIT, said Zakia's plea was untenable as it has already been rejected by the Gujarat High Court in 2014 on grounds of lacking merit. The senior advocate also opposed social activist Teesta Setalvad joining the case as a second petitioner.
The bench said it would decided before beginning the proceedings whether Setalvad should be allowed to appear as a second petitioner.
Zakia, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, had in 2006 demanded the registration of FIR against Narendra Modi - the then Gujarat Chief Minister - accusing him of complicity in the anti-Muslim pogrom post Godhra carnage.
On April 27, 2009, the Supreme Court had asked the Special Investigation Team probing the riots cases to look into the allegations levelled against Modi.
In 2012, the SIT began examining Modi, and submitted the report a year later which cleared him of all the charges. The SIT clean chit was unsuccessfully challenged by Zakia in 2014 before the Gujarat High Court. The bench had upheld the SIT report, finding no reason to order a re-investigation.
Notably, Zakia's husband Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people massacred on February 28, 2002 by a Hindutva mob which stormed inside Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society -- a residential colony housing mostly Muslims.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 19, 2018 02:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).