No apologies for Modi remarks, Nafisa Ali indicates to Gujarat HC

“Let the petitioner also say if she would like to apologise or not”, to which the petitioner’s advocate Anand Yagnik responded that the petitioner has been “clear” on her stance for the past 18 years, indicating that Nafisa, now with Trinamool Congress, wants to argue on merits for quashing of the two FIRs of August 2003.

The FIRs were registered at Sarkhej police station and Satellite police station, booking Nafisa for offences under Indian Penal Code section 153 (a) for promoting enmity between different groups and section 114 for abettor present when offence is committed.

In the Satellite police station FIR, the complaint had referred to an article in The Indian Express quoting Nafisa as saying, “What Britishers couldn’t do, Modi has done. He divided people on the basis of communalism”, and “just like people of Hitler’s country are ashamed of him, people will be of Modi too”.

It was alleged in the FIR that Nafisa’s remarks were made in the context of 2002 Godhra riots.

The Sarkhej police station FIR said that Nafisa stated in an interview that “justice can be done if the Best Bakery case is tried outside Gujarat” and “message to the youth is don’t become Osama Bin Laden or Narendra Modi”. The Supreme Court ordered retrial of the Best Bakery case outside Gujarat, in Maharashtra.

In January 2018, the HC passed an order rejecting two petitions seeking quashing of the FIRs due to repeated adjournments and non-appearance of advocates in the matter. The petitions were restored in March 2018.