New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday refused to
comment on the judgement of a Gujarat Court in Godhra case,
saying the party does not comment on court judgements.
"We do not comment on court judgements. So we do not
have to comment on the quantum of punishment given by the
court as well", party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told
reporters.
She was responding to questions on the judgement of a
special court in Gujarat today handing down death sentence
to eleven convicts and life imprisonment to 20 others in the
2002 Godhra train burning incident that left 59 `karsevaks`
dead, triggering riots which claimed over 1200 lives in the
state.
Asked to comment on BJP`s statement that the court
order has laid to rest the theory that everything was
instigated by the Narendra Modi government, Natarajan said
Congress would not like to draw a parallel between the court
judgement and committee findings.
Responding to the same question, Law Minister M
Veerappa Moily also said, "I am not going to comment on
that...there are differing reports of the commissions.
Nanavati Commission is yet to give a report. There are other
reports like Justice Mukherjee report. I do not want to get
into it."
The one-man U C Banerjee Commission appointed by the
Railway Ministry under Lalu Prasad Yadav had said that fire
was "accidental" while the Nanavati Commission, appointed by
the Gujarat government to probe the carnage, had in the first
part of the report concluded that the fire in the S-6 coach
was not an accident, but was caused by throwing of petrol
inside it.
Natarajan also congratulated Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee for giving a "very reasonable budget", saying it
addressed the fundamental commitment of Congress and UPA to
the issue of inclusive growth in a comprehensive manner.
She also welcomed the decision to provide cash subsidy
in fertlizers, LPG and Kerosene oil directly to consumers. She
said the budget continues the process of cautious growth
keeping in mind the society`s disadvantaged sections at the
same time.
PTI
