The Supreme Court dismissed a petition by Zakia Jafri, the widow of the murdered Congressman Ehsan Jafri, on Friday challenging the SIT’s exoneration of then-Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots case.
According to the SC, Zakia Jafri’s argument was without merit. The three-judge panel of AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and CT Ravikumar ruled that there was a “devious stratagem to keep the pot boiling, evidently, for ulterior design” and that anyone implicated in such an abuse of the legal system must face legal consequences.
The bench said that there is no “strong or grave suspicion regarding hatching of bigger criminal conspiracy at the highest level” for committing widespread acts of violence against Muslims based on the information gathered throughout the investigation.
What happened at Gulbarg Society?
The 68 individuals killed at Ahmedabad’s Gulberg Society amid unrest on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning that claimed 59 lives, included Congress leader and former MP Ehsan Jafri.
1,044 individuals, predominantly Muslims, were killed in the riots that it started. 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were murdered in the post-Godhra riots, the Central government notified the Rajya Sabha in May 2005.
SIT statement
In response to Zakia Jafri’s 2006 petition against Modi and others regarding the bigger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots, the SC established a Special Investigation Team under the direction of former CBI director RK Raghavan.
There was “no prosecutable evidence” against Modi and 63 other people, including senior government officials, according to the SIT’s closure report, which was submitted in February 2012.
Zakia Jafri’s claim
Senior attorney Kapil Sibal, who is defending Jafri, had previously informed the bench that their arguments had nothing to do with the claimed involvement of the former chief minister and are instead focused on a bigger conspiracy that the SIT chose not to look into.
The SIT had contested Jafri’s argument, claiming that the complaint was part of a diabolical scheme to look into the “bigger conspiracy” that led to the riots in Gujarat in 2002 and that Teesta Setalvad, a social activist, had allegedly directed Jafri’s initial complaint in an effort to stir up trouble.
Setalvad had also contested a Gujarat high court ruling from October 2017 that barred reopening the SIT’s closure report.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) was praised by the SC on Friday for its “indefatigable labour” under trying conditions and for coming out with “flying colours intact.”
The top court ruled that the SIT’s methodology cannot be faulted and that its final report, which was released on February 8, 2012, is supported by solid logic and “exposes analytical mind and deals with all factors objectively for eliminating the claims involving bigger criminal conspiracy.”
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