8 yrs later,Modi questioned

The questioning was held in two phases,with the first beginning at Saturday noon and lasting just over five-and-a-half hours. Modi presented himself before the panel again at 9 pm and hadn’t emerged till after midnight.

“I,like any other Indian citizen,respect the law and will abide by the Constitution of the country,” Modi said as he stepped out of the SIT office in the old state Secretariat building after the first round. “No one is above the law. I have arrived today in accordance with the SIT’s letter,which had asked me to appear on March 27.”

“Vistaar se baatcheet ki (we spoke in detail),” Modi said,adding,“In the Indian Constitution,law is supreme. As a common man,CM,I am bound by the Indian Constitution and law.”

SIT Chief R K Raghavan was not present when Modi appeared in response to the panel’s summons. The SIT’s second-in-command,ex-CBI DG A K Malhotra,questioned Modi.

Zakia Jafri,the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was among the 69 killed by a mob at Ahmedabad’s Gulberg Society,had petitioned the SC seeking a probe against 63 individuals,including Modi,in connection with the massacre.

Zakia accused Modi of conspiring and giving instructions to the then director general of police and other senior officials to allow Hindus to give vent to their anger against Muslims.

Modi arrived with his official entourage amid heavy police deployment around noon. Dressed in white,he waved at waiting reporters before entering the SIT office,while his officials waited outside.

Sources said Modi was questioned by Malhotra in Raghavan’s cabin,with a typist transcribing the proceedings.

“My appearance here is a karara jawab (fitting reply) to my detractors,I have given a resounding reply to those who doubted my intentions. I hope such talk by vested interests will stop,” he said once he stepped out after the first round of questioning.

“Kuch logon ko kuch jo bhram rehte hain,to main spashta karna chahta hun ki SIT Supreme Court ne banayi hai. SIT ke jaanch karnewala jo dal hain,jisne mujhe aaj puch-tach ki hai,is puri vyavastha mein Gujarat ka koi afsar nahin hai… (For those who have doubts,I wish to clarify that the SIT has been formed by the Supreme Court. In the investigating team of SIT which questioned me today,there was no official from Gujarat).”

He added: “Ho sakta hai dubara aaoonga,meri koshish yahi hai ki aaj hi puri ho jaaye. Main karib nau baje aaoonga,un logon ko bhi homework karna hai. (It is possible that I might come again,I am trying to see that it gets completed today itself. I will come around nine o clock,they the SIT also need to do homework).”