In a veiled warning, the Narendra Modi Government today raised fears of communal disturbances returning to the state if the Supreme Court transferred out the trial of any of the Gujarat riot cases.Opposing the transfer pleas made by the NHRC and amicus curiae Harish Salve, the Modi Government told the apex court in its affidavit: ‘‘At present there is communal harmony in the state and such transfer of the sessions cases is likely to have an adverse impact thereon and may endanger the tranquility of the state.’’Pressing the court to vacate the stay it imposed last month on the trials of important cases, the state said that the proposed transfer outside Gujarat will, far from inspiring confidence, expose the witnesses to ‘‘psychological fear and insecurity arising out of their being placed in a totally alien atmosphere/place.’’Attacking the bona fides of the NHRC and Salve, it said they were making ‘‘a clear-cut attempt to undermine the majesty and dignity of the entire judicial system of the state of Gujarat.’’The state Government denied all allegations of negligence or complicity for the collapse of cases like Best Bakery and for all the accused being on bail despite the serious charges.The bench headed by Chief Justice V N Khare told the government today to back its claims by filing a status report on the accused on bail and those in custody as also details of the acquittals that have been challenged and those that have not been appealed against. The next hearing is scheduled for January 30.Gujarat’s counsel, additional solicitor general Mukul Rohatgi, requested the court to vacate the stay on at least the POTA trial on the Godhra train carnage incident ‘‘as it was nobody’s case that there was anything amiss in it.’’Salve sought to turn the tables on the government by asking why it was not pursuing the riot cases as vigorously as it was dealing with the Godhra case. About three months ago, Salve had himself appeared before the apex court for the Gujarat government and got bail to Godhra accused cancelled. ‘‘The Government advisedly contested upto the Supreme Court the grant of bail to the Godhra accused. There is no explanation as to why in other cases a similar course of action was not pursued,’’ he said.In another embarrassment to the Gujarat Government, the apex court today issued a notice to it and the Centre on a petition concerning the killings of three British nationals during the 2002 riots.The petitioner, Imran Mohammed Salim Dawood, a resident of West Yorkshire in UK, alleged that he and his relatives were cornered by a mob on February 28, 2002, a day after the train carnage incident, and four of them, including three British nationals, were killed.Even though the complaint given to the police contained the names of the miscreants, the state, despite repeated inquiries from the British High Commission, maintained that the investigation was on to trace the culprits, the petition said.
