Godhra panel: Plea to summon Atal, George

Close on the heels of an application seeking to summon former President K.R. Narayanan before the Godhra inquiry commission, an advocate today filed a plea asking former PM A.B. Vajpayee and former defence minister George Fernandes be called before the probe panel.

In his application before Justices (retd) G.T. Nanavati and K.G Shah, advocate Mukul Sinha of Gujarat HC said the former president’s remarks hinted he had suggested ‘‘early deployment of army in Gujarat’’ that could have prevented killings. Sinha heads the Jan Sangharsh Manch, an ngo representing riot victims.

Narayanan, president during the riots, had reportedly told media in Kerala that ‘‘he had asked Vajpayee to deploy army in Gujarat to control the communal riots’’. ‘‘The application (to be heard tomorrow) to summon Vajpayee and Fernandes is to find out the reasons behind the delay in deploying the army in a communally-affected state,’’ said Sinha.