'Nanavati Commission given extension as it sought more time'

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, representing the state government, today submitted to the court a letter written by Secretary of the Nanavati Commission G K Patel asking extension for the inquiry panel.

The court had yesterday asked the state government to provide reasons for giving nine-month extension to the Commission comprising Retd Justice G T Nanavati and Retd Justice Akshay Mehta while hearing a PIL.

The letter of the Nanavati Commission Secretary said that the SIT has submitted its final report regarding the complaint against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and others, and the Commission has sought this from the SIT.

The letter requested that the term of the Commission should be extended by three months after the SIT gives its report to the Commission.

A case is also pending in the Supreme Court on whether SIT should provide the copy of Modi's interrogation to the Commission.

Division bench of acting chief justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and J B Pardiwala, then asked the Advocate General as to why would Commission want to base its final report on SIT findings as it was empowered to have its own investigations and what was the reason for it to rely on the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.

The court than posed a question whether they should issue a notice to the Nanavati Commission on the issue.

The Advocate General, however, intervened and said that he would convey this to the Commission and get back to the court.

The court has kept the next date of hearing on May 9.

The court has also asked the state to inform it as to who in the government has power to sanction extension for the Commission.

The court was hearing a PIL which said the state government had disregarded the authority of the court by unilaterally granting extension of nine months to the 2002 riot probe panel when the matter was pending before the court.

Last December, one Jignesh Goswami through advocate K G Pandit, had filed a PIL on the status of the Commission and sought to know as to when the Commission intended to file its final report.