2002 Gujarat riots: Teesta Setalvad wants to keep pot boiling in Zakia Jafri's name, state govt tells SC

The Gujarat government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that in the name of Zakia Jafri social activist Teesta Setalvad wants to keep the ldquopot boilingrdquo on the 2002 riots which would be a ldquotravesty of justicerdquo and the apex court may not encourage such petitionsZakia Jafri the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the violence at Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28 2002 has challenged the SITs clean chit to 64 people including Narendra Modi the then Gujarat chief minister during the riots in GujaratSolicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Gujarat government told a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar that as Setalvad is the petitioner number two in the petition along with Zakia Jafri it makes the proceedings an ldquoabuse of the processrdquoMehta told the bench also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar it is nobodys case that guilty of the 2002 riots have gone unpunished as trials have taken place and depending on the merits the accused have been either convicted or acquitted in these casesldquoNow the question is in the name of petitioner number one Zakia Jafri petitioner number two Setalvad wants to keep the pot boiling by saying that still do something still direct this investigation still direct further course etc which in my respectful submission in the background of the facts which I have pleaded from the judicial pronouncements would be travesty of justicerdquo the solicitor general saidldquoYour lordships may not encourage such petitionsrdquo he said while concluding his submissions for the stateHe said the petitioners have alleged in their argument that following the aftermath of the Godhra train burning incident and the resultant riots which took place in Gujarat the state government did not take any stepsMehta said the state had constituted a commission of inquiry by a former judge of the apex court under The Commissions of Inquiry ActHe said the commission had gathered voluminous records and came out with detailed reportMehta who referred to the commissions report said detailed facts of every district were examined and it was found that everyone did what they could do under the circumstances and the concerned authorities were at the vigilHe argued that the complaint which is ldquolike an article in a newspaper says that nobody discharged their duties I am showing that everybody did their duty to the best of their abilities under the circumstancesrdquoMehta said ldquoTo satisfy your lordships conscience that now at this stage at the behest of petitioner number two in a 136 jurisdiction any further exercise at their behest would not be in public interestrdquoArticle 136 of the Constitution deals with special leave to appeal by the apex courtSenior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the petitioners told the bench that there were several materials on record which should have been probed by the Special Investigation Team SIT but it was not doneHe said he has limited himself to the undisputed documentary evidenceldquoWe just cannot wish it away and argue that the pot keeps boiling That cannot be an argument by an SIT I am sorry to sayrdquo Sibal told the bench during the arguments which would continue on WednesdayThe senior advocate while referring to the records said the SIT seems to have turned a blind eye to thisldquoThis is my concern My concern is not that A should be convicted or B should be convicted This cant happen in my country This cant happen Your lordships have to rise to the occasion to make sure this can never happen againrdquo he saidOn December 2 the state government had told the apex court that there is a larger conspiracy ldquoorchestratedrdquo by Teesta Setalvad to defame Gujarat for almost two decadesZakia Jafris counsel had earlier argued that her complaint of 2006 was that there was ldquoa larger conspiracy where there was bureaucratic inaction police complicity hate speeches and unleashing of violenceEhsan Jafri the former MP was among the 68 people killed in the violence a day after the Godhra train incidentThe S6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra killing 59 people and triggering riots in Gujarat in 2002On February 8 2012 the SIT had filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Modi now the Prime Minister and 63 others including senior government officials saying there was no prosecutable evidence against themZakia Jafri had filed a petition in the apex court in 2018 challenging the Gujarat High Courts October 5 2017 order rejecting her plea against the SIT decisionThe plea also maintained that after the SIT gave a clean chit in its closure report before a trial judge Zakia Jafri filed a protest petition which was dismissed by the magistrate without considering substantiated meritsThe high court in its October 2017 order had said the SIT probe was monitored by the Supreme CourtHowever it partly allowed her petition as far as its demand for a further investigation was concerned saying she can approach an appropriate forum including the magistrates court a division bench of the high court or the Supreme Court seeking further investigationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever