Zee Media Bureau/Ritesh K Srivastava
Ahmedabad: A magistrate court in Ahmedabad is set to announce on Thursday its decision on Zakia Jafri`s petition challenging the closure report of Special Investigation Team, which gave a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 58 others in connection with the 2002 communal riots case. An adverse court verdict court can cause a major dent to the main opposition party, BJP`s, massive `Modi-for-PM` campaign and its chances of ousting Congress at the Centre in 2014 polls. Here are the deeper details of the case:-
  • Ehsan Jafri, then Congress MP and husband of Zakia Jafri, the main petitioner in the case, was among 68 others who were burnt alive during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
  • Jafri`s frantic phone calls for help to the police and politicians were allegedly ignored at the time of incident.
  • Jafri later alleged that Chief Minister Modi colluded with senior ministers, bureaucrats and the police to fan the communal violence that tore through the state.
  • Jafri`s allegations were investigated by a Special Investigating Team or SIT appointed by the Supreme Court in March 2008.
  • Modi was interrogated in 2010 by the SIT for over nine hours.
  • In 2011, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and said it would be handled by an Ahmedabad court.
  • In April 2011, Sanjiv Bhatt, who was a senior police officer in 2002, said that at a meeting, Modi told him and other cops to allow Hindus in the state to exact revenge for the killing of 59 karsevaks on the Sabarmati Express near Godhra.
  • However, the SIT concluded that Sanjiv Bhatt`s testimony was not reliable because he was nursing a grudge against the government as he was sidelined by the Modi administration.
  • The SIT also alleged that the petition was a motivated one and was filed at the instance of anti-Modi activist Teesta Setalvad.
  • After four years, the SIT said in February 2012 that there was no prosecutable evidence against Modi and the others and filed a closure report indicating its inquiry has ended.
  • Jafri contested that decision and challenged the SIT`s closure report and the clean-chit given to Modi.
  • Arguments got over in September 2013. SIT counsel RS Jamuar argued before the court that no direct or circumstantial evidence supporting Jafri`s allegations was found, while her lawyers argued that SIT ignored the relevant evidence and shielded the main culprits.
  • Magistrate BJ Ganatra said that he would deliver the order on October 28, but it was deferred to December 2, and then to December 26.
  • Magistrate BJ Ganatra`s court will rule on her petition today.
  • Today`s verdict comes just as the BJP has decided to launch an aggressive "Modi-for-PM" campaign ahead of next year`s national election.
  • Today`s ruling of the Gujarat court will decide whether Zakia`s case against chief minister Narendra Modi, now the BJP`s prime ministerial candidate, and 59 others stands closed.