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Zakia Jafri plea: Kapil Sibal says violence during 2002 Gujarat riots perpetrated through design, hearing to continue tomorrow

On February 8, 2012, the SIT had filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Modi, now the Prime Minister, and 63 others including senior government officials, saying there was ''no prosecutable evidence'' against them.

The Supreme Court continued hearing Zakia Jafri’s plea challenging the SIT’s clean chit to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other high functionaries during the 2002 Gujarat Riots on Tuesday.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Zakia Jafri, who has alleged a larger conspiracy in the Gujarat riots, told the court that this is a case where the majesty of the law has been deeply injured. The bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C.T. Ravikumar heard Sibal’s arguments.

Sibal said the 2002 Gujarat riots was perpetrated through a design that emanates from the documents. He told the court that the Republic is like a ship that will only be steady if the majesty of the law prevails. After hearing Sibal’s submissions, the court said it would hear Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who is appearing for the SIT, on Wednesday.

“I am not here to establish conspiracy. That’s not my job. That is the job of the SIT. My grievance is that they have not investigated it,” Sibal said. “Your lordships have given us, I would say, my lords, a hearing that only suggests that this court gives the maximum leeway when issues of great magnitude come before this court and it is in that spirit that your lordships have heard me,” he said.

On November 17, Sibal had said the crucial aspects of the tragic incident were not investigated by the SIT appointed by the Supreme Court. He had also emphasized that the evidence required to establish the elements of a larger conspiracy had been overlooked by the investigating agency.

The Evidence was not collected and those collected were not analyzed, which lead to the inference that something was hidden or protected by SIT, Sibal said. The S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra, killing 59 people and triggering riots in Gujarat in 2002. During the arguments, the senior advocate said what happened after the Sabarmati Express incident was equally a national tragedy.

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Ehsan Jafri, the former Congress MP, was among the 68 people killed in the violence at Gulberg society, a day after the Godhra train incident.

On February 8, 2012, the SIT had filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Modi, now the Prime Minister, and 63 others including senior government officials, saying there was ”no prosecutable evidence” against them.

In 2018, Jafri had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s October 5, 2017 order rejecting her plea against the SIT decision. The court in its October 2017 order had said the SIT probe was monitored by the Supreme Court. However, it partly allowed Zakia Jafri’s petition as far as its demand for a further investigation was concerned.

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