Gulberg riots: SIT refuses to share report probing Modi role

SIT had submitted the report to the court in a sealed cover last week amid speculation that Modi may have got relief in the probe on Zakia Jafri8217;s complaint against the chief minister and others on the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Zakia8217;s husband Ehsan Jafri,a former Congress MP,was among the 69 people killed in the post-Godhra Gulberg Housing society riots.

SIT lawyer R S Jambuar said after the court decides to close the complaint holding there is no evidence,copies could be given to the 8220;original complainant8221; Zakia,as per the Supreme Court8217;s order.

The SIT also submitted an application seeking a month8217;s time to submit the statements,evidence and documents related to the probe. The application said since this material was voluminous and compiled in a haphazard way it needed time to serialise the papers before submitting to the court.

Jambuar said the documents were crucial and must be kept under tight security.

He admitted that SIT had obtained the report of amicus curie Raju Ramchandran appointed by the Supreme Court,and had considered it before submitting its own final report. The amicus curie8217;s report had been dealt with in the SIT8217;s final report,Jambuar added.

On behalf of the applicants,Zakia8217;s lawyer S M Vora said her client,being the original complainant,should get a copy,as per the apex court8217;s order. After hearing both sides,the judge reserved the order till February 15.

8220;We appreciate the court8217;s decision to give its order in only two days time,8221; Setalvad said.

I M Munshi,the lawyer of Setalvad,a co-complainant in the case,also demanded copy of the SIT report,adding that questions of locus standi did not arise at this stage. As the report had been submitted to the court,it had become a public document and anyone could access it,he said.

The lawyer of NGO Jan Sangarsh Manch which too has sought a copy Samshad Pathan,argued that only the magistrate8217;s court had the jurisdiction to decide its application,and SIT had no say in the matter. He also sought permission to inspect the report.

But the SIT lawyer said that any person cannot access the report,because it had not been filed as a part of investigation of an FIR under section 124 of Criminal Procedure Code.

This report had been filed under section 173 8 of CrPC,which deals with 8216;further investigations8217;,and hence it was not a public document,he argued.

The report was submitted in a sealed cover to the court last Wednesday. It reportedly gives a clean chit to Modi and 56 others on the ground that there is no 8220;prosecutable evidence8221;.

The Supreme Court,which set up the SIT,had asked it to investigate whether there was a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat,in which more than 1,200 people were killed.

A complaint had been filed by Setalvad and Zakia Jafri in connection with the Gulberg Society incident.

SIT questioned many people,including Modi,and filed the first report in the Supreme Court,supposedly giving a clean chit to the chief minister.

The apex court then asked senior lawyer Raju Ramchandran to independently assess the SIT report. On September 12,2011,after going through Ramchandran8217;s report,the Supreme Court did not record any finding,but asked the SIT to submit its final report to the magistrate8217;s court in Ahemadabad.