New Delhi, June 24
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots in the state and dismissed the plea of Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar upheld the magistrate’s order dismissing Zakia Jafri’s protest petition against the closure report filed by the SIT in 2012.
A bench of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice CT Ravikumar said that their plea has no merit. He had alleged a major conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Congress leader and former MP Ehsan Jafri was among 68 people killed during the violence at Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train caught fire.
Zakia Jafri had challenged the clean chit of the SIT to 64 people including Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2002.
His petition had challenged the October 5, 2017 order of the High Court dismissing his plea against the SIT’s decision.
The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on the petition on December 9 last year.
The SIT had said during the hearing in the top court that barring Zakia Jafri’s plea, no one “raised a finger” against it for the investigation conducted into the 2002 Gujarat riots.
His lawyer had previously said that his 2006 complaint was “a larger conspiracy where bureaucratic inaction, police complicity, hate speech and violence were perpetrated”.
On February 27, 2002, 59 people were killed when a fire broke out in coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, sparking riots in the state.
On February 8, 2012, the SIT filed a closure report, now giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi and 63 others, including senior government officials, saying there was “no prosecutable evidence” against them.
Zakia Jafri had filed a petition in the apex court in 2018. The petition also states that after the SIT gave a clean chit in its closure report before a trial judge, Zakia Jafri had filed a protest petition which was dismissed by the magistrate without considering the “evidence”. Property”.
The High Court, in its October 2017 order, had said that the SIT probe is supervised by the Supreme Court.
However, as far as the demand for further inquiry is concerned, he partly allowed his petition, holding that it may be approached by a magistrate’s court, a division bench of the High Court, or an appropriate forum including the Supreme Court. May demand further investigation.
Time
February 27, 2002: 59 kar sevaks traveling in the Sabarmati Express train returning from Ayodhya were allegedly attacked and train coaches set on fire at Godhra railway station.
February 28: The mob attacked the residents of Gulbarg Society, Meghaninagar, killing 69 people, including the appellant’s husband – Zakia Ahsan Jafri, who had unsuccessfully tried to stop the mob.
March 6: The Gujarat government appointed a commission under the Commission of Inquiry Act to inquire into the Godhra massacre and the post-Godhra riots.
9 October 2003: The National Human Rights Commission filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court seeking a fair investigation. SC appoints senior advocate Harish Salve as amicus curiae.
June 8, 2006: Zakia Jafri filed a complaint against Modi and others in the larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots.
26 March 2008: The Supreme Court appointed a special investigation team headed by former CBI director RK Raghavan.
1 May 2009: The top court lifted the stay on trials and directed the prosecution of cases in special courts, and directed the SIT appointed by it to submit a progress report.
May 6, 2010: SC directs that trial court will not give final verdict till further orders. The Gulberg Society case was put on hold after the resignation of the Special Public Prosecutor, who appeared in that case.
September 11, 2011: The Supreme Court directed the chairman of the SIT to forward a final report along with the entire material collected to the court, which took cognizance of the crime.
February 8, 2012: The SIT filed the closure report giving clean chit to Modi and 63 others, including senior government officials, saying there was no prosecutable evidence against them.
April 15, 2013: Zakia Jafri filed a protest petition in a local court seeking quashing of the SIT report that had given clean chit to Modi and others in the Gulberg Society riots case.
26 December: The protest petition is dismissed by the Metropolitan Magistrate and the final report of the SIT is accepted.
October 5, 2017: The decision was taken before the High Court which dismissed Zakia’s plea against the SIT’s decision.
September 12, 2018: Zakia moved the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s order dismissing his plea against the SIT’s decision.
October 26, 2021: SC begins hearing on Zakia’s plea on regular basis.
9 December: Supreme Court reserves its verdict on Zakia’s petition
June 24, 2022: SC dismissed Zakia’s plea and upheld the SIT’s clean chit to Modi and others.