New Delhi: In a big relief to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Supreme Court Monday dismissed a petition seeking direction to the Nanavati Commission to summon him to depose before the probe panel on his alleged role in the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
An apex court bench headed by Justice D.K. Jain rejected the demand by senior counsel Colin Gonsalves on the grounds that the court could not give any direction to the Nanavati Commission which was appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act.
"It is for the commission to devise its own procedure and decide whom it should summon for questioning in connection with its probe," the court told senior counsel.
The court said that it "cannot decide the cases on the basis of personalities. We are judging the report of the commission even before it is ready".
It further said that if the court starts interfering at every stage of the functioning of the commission of inquiry, then the inquiry will never be complete.
The court said this while dismissing a withdrawn petition by Amrish N. Patel challenging the Gujarat high court order by which it upheld the Nanavati Commission`s order - declining plea to summon Modi and others for questioning on their role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
IANS
