Court`s ruling not vindication of Modi in Gujarat riots: Congress

Congress asked BJP not to regard as "vindication" Gujarat court`s ruling upholding clean chit to Narendra Modi in 2002 Gujarat riots maintaining legal remedies are open to complainant in the case.

New Delhi: Congress on Thursday asked BJP not to regard as "vindication" Gujarat court`s ruling upholding clean chit given to Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots maintaining that all legal remedies are still open to the complainant in the case.

"The complainant is entitled to challenge this order. For the BJP to treat it as the last word on judicial finding or to suggest that this is a vindication is totally misleading and wrong. "Yes, till such time a superior court deals with the grievance of the complainant, Modi has got a temporary reprieve only to the extent of metropolitan magistrate rejecting the protest plea," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here. He said that as far as the Zakia Jafri`s case is concerned, Congress continues to hold that the actual incident was horrendous, macabre and involved the most gruesome and repulsive destruction of human lives. "As far as Modi is concerned, this is the metropolitan magistrate`s judgement rejecting the protest petition of the complainant. The Congress really does not have anything to add at this stage for the simple reason that all legal remedies are open to the complainant," Singhvi said. In a major relief to Modi, a Metropolitan Court rejected the protest petition filed by Zakia Jafri, a riot victim, against the clean chit given to him and others by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team in the post-Godhra communal violence. BJP welcomed the ruling with party President Rajnath Singh saying that the judgement was on expected lines. "We were always confident that he is totally clean and today`s ruling has proved it," Singh said.