Apex Court clears Modi, Zakia Zaferi vows to continue the fight

JUDGEMENT // A special investigations team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the 2002 Gulberg Society massacre gave the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a clean chit and sought its closure as it found no evidence against him. This report probably came as a relief to Chief Minister Modi, who was accused of criminal conspiracy by the Zakia Zaferi, the wife of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was among the 69 people killed in the Gulberg Society carnage. According to the reports filed by the SIT, no evidence was found against any of the 58 persons listed in Zakia’s complaint. The court later ordered that a copy of SIT’s report and related documents be given to Zakia within 30 days, which would give her the rights to pursue private criminal complaints against Modi and co-accused. The court has to decide whether it will accept or reject the report filed by the SIT, after hearing the complainant. The court also stated that there was no need to issue an order to Zakia as she had already approached the court seeking a copy. Zakia had accused Modi and 57 other ministerial colleagues of a wider conspiracy in the Godhra Riots in which more than a thousand people had died. Most victims were Muslims. SIT chief Raghavan said that the complainant will get an opportunity to contest the findings, stating that, “We have done our duty to the best of our abilities”, and that the integrity of the team cannot be questioned. The Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae, Raju Ramachandran hoped that his independent report on the SIT document will also be given to Zakia, who has the right to file a “protest petition” in court. Ramachandran, who has given his “independent assessment” to the report refused to disclose the contents of his report. The SIT report was submitted after a complete inquiry of the incident and after quizzing all the accused including Modi who was quizzed for more than nine hours by the investigation team. After going through the report the SC had asked Ramachandran to file an independent report which he then submitted to the SC. Refusing to disclose the contents of his report, Ramachandran said he has given an independent assessment on the SIT report. The SIT questioned several people, including Narendra Modi, who was quizzed for more than nine hours in relation to the case. The Apex Court, after going through the report, had asked Ramchandran to independently verify the findings. He has also submitted his report to the Supreme Court. In response to the SIT’s closure report, Zakia said she was “pained” but vowed to continue her battle for justice for her husband and others. She also said, “In the court of the Lord above, justice can get delayed but not denied.”