2002 Riots of Gujarat was carried out through Design": Zakia Jafri Said to top court

The Pinnacle Court resumed hearing Zakia Jafri’s plea challenging the SIT’s clean chit to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other high functionaries during the 2002 Gujarat Riots on Tuesday.

The bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C.T. Ravikumar heard Sibal’s arguments.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Zakia Jafri, who has alleged a larger conspiracy in the Gujarat riots, told the court that this is a case where the majesty of the law has been deeply injured.

GOP MP Ehsan Jafri, Zakia's husband was mercilessly murdered in the Gulbarg Society massacre, Next after the Sabarmati express was torched in Godhra. On 8th June, 2006, Zakia had filed a complaint against some of the top officials and ministers including the then Chief Minister of Gujarat for, inter alia, inaction, complicity, conspiracy. Non-action on the complaint by the State police forced Zakia to approach the Gujarat High Court seeking the complaint to be treated as an FIR. On dismissal of the matter by the High Court, she moved the Supreme Court. The Apex Court directed the Special Investigation Team, which was already constituted to investigate the Gujarat riots, 2002 to also look into the complaint filed by Zakia. On the direction of the Court, the SIT filed a closure report on 8th February, 2012 giving clean chit to the accused without granting Zakia Jafri an opportunity to be heard. She had filed a Protest Petition challenging the investigation conducted by SIT, before the Supreme Court, which directed the Magistrate to look into the closure report along with the Protest Petition. The Magistrate dismissed the petition refusing to take cognisance. The High Court also did not find fault in the SIT closure.

Terming the 2002 incidents of Godhra and subsequent riots as a “national tragedy of gargantuan proportions”, Mr Sibal said the petitioner is concerned with how the majesty of the law will deal with such issues when men “behave like animals”.

“These are not matters of an individual case of murder or violence committed. It is violence which was perpetrated through design and the design emanates from the documents,” he told the bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar while referring to the materials placed by Ms Jafri.

Now senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi Defends and Arguing  for SIT Clean Chit To Narendra Modi

Hearing will continue tomorrow.