‘HC order on Godhra shows agencies misused law’

It was on the basis of the SIT’s findings that provisions of POTA were applied to the accused imprisoned in the Sabarmati jail.

While Asthana and Bhatt were not available for comment,Parmar,who was present in the court when the order was pronounced,refused to say anything on the issue. Reacting to the judgement,however,Sayeed Umarji,the son of 75-year-old Maulana Hussain Umarji imprisoned for his alleged involvement in the carnage,said the “ruling has proved that investigating agencies have misused law”. He demanded action against the SIT officials.

Senior advocate and representative of the Jan Sangharsh Manch,Mukul Sinha,who had earlier defended the Godhra accused,said the HC order blasted the findings of the Nanavati commission report which had relied on the SIT findings.

He said the HC ruling also upheld the recommendations of the UC Banerjee commission,which had rejected the conspiracy theory. Now,the trial of the accused,which had been stayed since November 2003,could begin,he added. While Sayeed Umarji said he would move the Supreme Court,praying that no interim relief should be given to the petitioner without hearing the accused,Vijay Patel,the advocate of Sardarji Maganji Vaghela who had challenged the recommendations of the review committee,said he would challenge the order in the apex court after consulting the petitioner.