On Friday (June 24), the apex court of India dismissed a petition by Zakia Jafri wherein she challenged the clean chit given to the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots by an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT).
It must be mentioned that the SIT was appointed by the Supreme Court itself, which had accepted its final report on the riots. The Court applauded the work done by the SIT and junked the petition of Zakia Jafri for being devoid of merit.
The matter was heard by a 3-Judge Bench of Justices Khanwilkar, Maheshwari and Ravikumar. “While parting, we express our appreciation for the indefatigable work done by the team of SIT officials in the challenging circumstances they had to face and yet, we find that they have come out with flying colours unscathed,” the Court observed.
“While parting, we express our appreciation for the indefatigable work done by the team of SIT officials in the challenging circumstances they had to face and yet, we find that they have come out with flying colours unscathed”.#SupremeCourt in #Gujaratriots #ZakiaJafri Judgement
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 24, 2022
It emphasised, “At the end of the day, it appears to us that a coalesced effort of the disgruntled officials of the State of Gujarat along with others was to create sensation by making revelations which were false to their own knowledge”
The Court further added, “The falsity of their claims had been fully exposed by the SIT after a thorough investigation.”
“The falsity of their claims had been fully exposed by the SIT after a thorough investigation”. #SupremeCourt in #Gujaratriots #ZakiaJafri Judgement
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 24, 2022
The Judges lambasted the petitioner for having the audacity to question the integrity of functionaries involved in the SIT probe.
“Intriguingly, the present proceedings have been pursued for the last 16 years with the audacity to question the integrity of every functionary involved in the process of exposing the devious stratagem adopted, to keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design,” they noted.
“As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law,” the Judges said.
“As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law”: #SupremeCourt #ZakiaJafri #Gujaratriots
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 24, 2022
The Judges also dismissed the claim of a ‘larger criminal conspiracy’ at the highest government level based on the evidence collected by the independent Special Investigation Team.
indicating involvement of the named offenders and their meeting of minds at some level in that regard”.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 24, 2022
The Supreme Court concluded, “The SIT had formed its opinion after considering all the materials collated during the investigation. The question of further investigation would have arisen only on the availability of new material/ information in connection with the allegation of larger conspiracy at the highest level, which is not forthcoming in this case.”
“The question of further investigation would have arisen only on the availability of new material/information in connection with the allegation of larger conspiracy at the highest level, which is not forthcoming in this case”
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 24, 2022
The Background of the Case
Zakia Jafri’s husband, Ehsan Jafri, and 68 others were brutally killed by a frenzied mob in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning on February 28, 2002. The mob barged into the Muslim-dominated Gulbarg Society of Ahmedabad and killed 69 people.
In 2006, the police filed a case against Narendra Modi, some ministers and officials in response to a complaint filed by Zakia Jafri. A supreme Court-monitored SIT was formed to look into the allegations of Jafri in March 2010.
In September 2013, the SIT gave a clean chit to Narendra Modi against Jafri’s allegations. The Ahmedabad court too rejected a protest petition filed against the clean chit given to Mr Modi in the 2002 riots case.
On October 5, 2017, the Gujarat High Court also upheld the order by the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate Court that had accepted the closure report submitted by the SIT.
