The Gujarat High Court dismissed a petition seeking to prevent the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team from interrogating Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 62 others for their role during the 2002 post-Godhra riots in the state.
Justice D H Waghela ruled that the SIT team, probing the riots case, was free to call Mr Modi and others.
The court was hearing a petition filed by former BJP MLA from Lunavada Kalubhai Malivad against the probe into the riots by SIT. Mr Malivad was one of the accused in another riot-related case in Panchmahal district.
The BJP leader challenged the Supreme Court’s directive for fresh investigation on the role of certain politicians and bureaucrats during the riots on a petition filed by Zakia Jaffrey, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffrey was among those killed during the riots at Gulbarg Society in the Naroda area of the city.
Ms Jaffrey in her complaint alleged that Mr Modi, his cabinet colleagues, police officials and senior bureaucrats had not properly discharged their responsibilities during the post-Godhra riots and demanded a fresh investigation into their role in the massacre.
The High Court had completed the hearing on Mr Malivad’s petition last week and reserved the order for today.
Mr Malivad, while challenging the SIT probe, claimed that the Supreme Court had not issued any specific direction to the SIT to ‘look into’ the complaint.
About 1200 people were killed and property worth several crores was destroyed in the riots across Gujarat following the Godhra train carnage in which 59 karsewaks returning from Ayodhya were killed on February 27, 2002.
