Gulbarg Society massacre case: Gujarat court rejects Zakia Jafri's plea

Ahmedabad: A magisterial court in Ahmedabad rejected Zakia Jafri's plea to open the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on the Gulbarg Society massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots in court. The court has said that the SIT will submit its final report on March 15 and Zakia Jafri can apply for a copy of the report after March 15.

Zakia Jafri and Teesta Setalvad-led Citizens for Justice and Peace filed an application in the Metropolitan Court in Ahmedabad stating that they have an apprehension that the SIT has not filed the complete report in the Gulbarg Society massacre case as directed by the Supreme Court. They wanted to know whether they will be allowed to read the SIT report in the courtroom or not.
Sources said that the agency had found no prosecutable evidence against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Gulbarg Society massacre.
The petitions were filed by Setalvad and lawyer Mukul Sinha seeking the copies of the SIT report filed in the Gulbarg case. Metropolitan Magistrate MS Bhatt had said that he would study the report and then pass appropriate order in the case while issuing a notice to the SIT in the case.
The petitioners had alleged that amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran's statements and findings have not been included in the report as it were different from that of the SIT's. Citizen for Justice and Peace's lawyer SM Vora said that they want the entire SIT report should be placed before the court.
After the SIT placed its report before the court in which it found no prosecutable evidence against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Zakia had said that she would fight back.
Her husband Ehsan Jafri was among the 69 people killed in the Gulbarg Society during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The final report was submitted in a sealed envelope by SIT officials in the Ahmedabad court as directed by the Supreme Court.
Around 1,200 people were killed in the communal riots in the state following the torching of S6 bogie of the Sabarmati Express train near Godhra station on February 27, 2002 in which at least 59 karsewaks returning from Ayodhya were burnt to death.
A petition was filed against Modi and 62 others by Zakia Jafri demanding his prosecution in the riots that followed the Godhra carnage.