Gujarat riots: SC to hear plea challenging clean-chit to PM Modi on Nov 19

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will hear Zakia Jafri's plea challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several others in 2002 Gujarat riots on November 19.

Zakia Jafri is the widow of former Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Ehsan Jafri. He was among the 69 people killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench, comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Deepak Gupta.

The SIT, appointed by the apex court, conducted the investigation into the case and gave a clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, other top politicians and bureaucrats.

Challenging the Gujarat High Court's order dated October 5, 2017 that upheld SIT's clean chit, Zakia approached the Supreme Court. Zakia had alleged a larger conspiracy in the riots.

The Gujarat High Court had upheld the magisterial court's order, accepting the apex court-appointed SIT's closure report giving a clean chit to Modi and others, citing lack of "prosecutable evidence" against them.

Zakia had approached the Gujarat High Court in 2014 after the magisterial court rejected the petition challenging the SIT report.

Zakia's petition in the Supreme Court stated, "Grant ad-interim order to Special Investigation Team to carry out further investigation u/s 173(8) of Cr. P. C. in regard to the Petitioner's complaint dated 08/06/2006 and the evidence placed before the Learned through the Protest Petition dated 15/04/2013.