2002 Gujarat Riots: SC Dismisses Zakia Jafri's Plea Challenging SIT Clean Chit To 64 People Including Narendra Modi

A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar upheld the Special Metropolitan Magistrate's order rejecting Jafri's protest petition against the closure report filed by the SIT.

Supreme Court.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday appreciated the SIT for the "indefatigable work" done in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases, saying it has come out with "flying colours unscathed" and there is no hesitation in accepting its opinion that no case has been made out to indicate a larger conspiracy to cause or precipitate mass violence against the minority community in the state.

The apex court, while upholding the SIT's clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots in the state, said it is not open to holding that the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the case has been deficient or infirm.

A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar observed that no fault can be found with the SIT's approach in submitting February 8, 2012, final report, which is backed by firm logic, expositing analytical mind, and dealing with all aspects objectively for discarding the allegations regarding larger criminal conspiracy (at the highest level) for causing and precipitating mass violence against minority community during the relevant period in 2002.

The top court dismissed a plea by slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri's wife Zakia Jafri, who had alleged a larger conspiracy and had challenged the Gujarat High Court's October 5, 2017 order rejecting her petition against the SIT decision.

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

The apex court observed that the SIT had formed its opinion after considering all the materials collated during the investigation.

"Be that as it may, after going through the analysis done by the SIT of the concerned allegations, we have no hesitation in accepting such opinion that no case had been made out against the named offenders, much less to indicate being party to the hatching of larger criminal conspiracy to cause or precipitate mass violence across the state against the minority community during the relevant period," said the bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar.

It observed that the question of further investigation would have arisen only on the availability of new material/information in connection with the allegation of a larger conspiracy at the highest level, which is not forthcoming in this case.

It said the SIT was entrusted with the investigation of nine sets of crimes, including the occurrences at the Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad.