2002 Gujarat riots: Supreme Court to hear Zakia Jafri's plea challenging clean chit to Modi
The plea was filed by Zakia Jafri, the wife of Ehsan Jafri, an ex-MP who was killed in one of the worst incidents of violence that took place during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In Short
- An SIT, which investigated the Gujarat riots, gave a clean chit to the then Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi
- Zakia Jafri then filed a petition challenging the Gujarat High Court order
- A Supreme Court bench said it would need to study the SIT's closure report
The Supreme Court will hear a plea challenging the clean chit given to Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots on Monday.
The plea was filed by Zakia Jafri, the wife of Ehsan Jafri, an ex-MP who was killed in one of the worst incidents of violence that took place during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
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A Special Investigation Team (SIT), which investigated the riots, gave a clean chit to the then Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi.
The Gujarat High Court, in 2017, by when Modi had become the prime minister, had upheld that clean chit.
Zakia Jafri then filed a petition challenging the Gujarat High Court order.
A Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, in its November 13 hearing, said it would need to study the SIT's closure report, which cleared Modi's name, thoroughly.
GUJARAT RIOTS
2002 Gujarat riots is a collective term used to describe incidents of communal violence that took place over a three-day period in Gujarat that year. The riots followed the burning of a coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra. The train was full of kar sevaks and the coach fire killed 59 people.
Following the Godhra carnage, Hindus and Muslims clashed across the state.
Among the most deadly instance of violence was the Gulberg Society massacre that caused the death of 68 people. Zakia Jafri's husband Ehsan was among those killed.
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The Gujarat government struggled to bring the situation under control and the Indian Army was ultimately deployed on the third day to bring peace.
The worst of the violence took place in the three days after the Godhra train fire. However, communal tension remained for a few months.
Following the riots, allegations were made that the Gujarat state machinery had either failed or turned a blind eye to the violence in the state. The role of the then chief minister, Narendra Modi, was also questioned.
(With inputs from agencies)
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