SC approves setting up of Special Courts for Gujarat riots hearing

By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net,

Mumbai: It has been more than seven years since communal riots triggered following Godhra train carnage and the victims of the riots are yet to get justice. In this scenario the Supreme Court has given a ray of hope to them by favoring setting up of designated courts for holding trial of Gujarat riot cases. The apex court has asked the state government to present its stand by Monday.


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The media reports reveal that Justice Arijit Pasayat led bench of the SC instructed the Gujarat government and the senior advocate Harish Salve who is assisting the court in Gujarat riots cases and additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium to place before it the suggestions by next Monday.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Tuesday reportedly informed the court that it has accepted the report of the SC appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). The BJP-ruled state claims the report has dropped all the charges leveled against the government by NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace headed by social activist Teesta Setalvad.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who is appearing for the Gujarat government, told the bench that the SIT report reveals that all the charges leveled by the NGO against the state government were false and that the NGO had given stereotyped affidavits in almost all riot cases.

The SIT led by the former CBI director R K Raghavan was constituted to re-probe ten major cases of Gujarat riots including the Godhra train carnage that triggered state wide communal riots claiming almost 2000 Muslims.

The SIT submitted its original report before the court in March along with a sealed report which was handed over only to the state government and senior advocate Harish Salve who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter.

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