Ahmedabad: A special court on Thursday rejected
the application of some of the 2002 Gulburg society riot
victims demanding that IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt be made a
witness in the case and be examined.
Designated Judge B J Dhandha hearing the case rejected
the plea on the grounds that Supreme Court was seized of the
matter and examining the report submitted by the special
investigation team (SIT).
It further said that SIT has asked the amicus curiae
in the case Raju Ramchandran to examine the SIT report and
give him liberty to question the witnesses independently if
needed.
Also, since the SIT investigation in the matter was
still on, the application could not be entertained at this
stage, the court said.
The victims had demanded that Bhatt be called as
witness based on the IPS officer`s affidavit filed in the
Supreme Court where he has allegedly divulged information
about Gulburg society riot incident.
Bhatt, who was DCP State Intelligence Bureau (SIB)
during the 2002 riots, in his affidavit in the Supreme Court
has alleged that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had instructed
officers to allow Hindus "to vent out their anger" during the
clashes and he wanted Muslims to be "taught a lesson".
The application filed by some of the riot victims was
opposed by the prosecuting agency SIT on the grounds that it
was still premature as probe was on in the matter.
The accused in the case had also opposed the plea
contending that it was malafide and intended to delay the
trial in the case.
There are 66 accused in the case where 69 persons
including ex MP Ehsan Jaffery were killed in the Gulburg
society riots on February 28, 2002.
The court has also fixed July 14 to begin final
arguments in the case.
PTI
