Has SIT given a clean chit to Modi in Zakia Jafri case?

By TCN News,

Ahmedabad : Has Supreme court appointed Special Investigation Team(SIT) headed by former CBI chief R K Raghavan given a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Zakia Jafri vs Modi & 61 others case?

SIT that probed the case on the directions of the supreme court, submitted its report in a sealed cover on Wednesday.

Though the content of the SIT report is not known yet, it is being speculated that SIT has given a clean chit to Modi in the case and filed a `closure’ report.

Even the advocates, who represent various parties in the case, have not been provided copies of the report. The magistrate on Thursday told the advocates that they would be made available the copies of the report only on February 13.

SIT members, when approached by mediapersons, refused to divulge the contents of the report. Modi was among the accused who was interrogated by SIT in March 2010 in this case.

When told by mediapersons that SIT had filed a `closure’ report in the case, Jafri’s advocate S M Vohra said that it was for the court to give clean chit to any body and not the SIT. Vohra refused to make any further comment on the issue.

In statements circulated to the media, Jafri and Teesta Setalvad of the Citizens for Justice and Peace said they could make comments on the report only after obtaining and reading the report.

SIT was probing on the orders of the Supreme Court on a petition in which Jafri had leveled allegations that the Gulberg Society mass massacre was the result of a larger conspiracy involving Modi and 61 others. Jafri’s husband Ehsan Jafri, a former Congress MP, was among 69 persons killed brutally during the attack on Gulberg Society. No police help came to protect the residents despite alleged phone calls made by Ehsan to Modi and others seeking police protection.

Jafri’s petition had named Modi and seven of his ministers in 2002, as also several police and IAS officials and ruling party politicians, office-bearers of VHP and Bajrang Dal as accused in the larger conspiracy for the statewide anti-Muslim riots of 2002. One of the accused Ashok Bhat, who was state health minister at the time of the riots in 2002, expired a year ago.

However, several advocates and those connected with the legal cases going on in courts pertaining to 2002 riots said that it was not possible for SIT to exonerate or give clean chit to all the 62 accused persons. They said that how could former minister Maya Kodnani and VHP leader Jaideep Patel arraigned as accused in the case be given a clean chit when they were arrested in the Naroda Patiya mass massacre and later on released on bail by the court.

Jafri had for the first time sent a detailed letter on June 8, 2006, to the then DGP A K Bhargava, demanding registration of FIR against 62 persons including Modi under Section 154 of CrPC. However, her plea was not entertained.

On May 1, 2007, Zakia and Mumbai-based Teesta Setalvad of Citizens for Justice and Peace(CJP) filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court, praying it to direct the police to register FIR against Modi, his cabinet ministers, administrative and police officials, including the then director general of police K Chakravarti and handing over the case to CBI for investigation.

However, the HC rejected the petition on November 2, 2007, asking the petitioners to approach the magisterial court in this regard.

After that Zakia and CJP filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking apex court’s direction for an FIR to be filed against Modi and 61 others, and for an investigation into their alleged role in 2002 anti-Muslim riots.