Supreme Court to stop monitoring 2002 Gujarat riots cases, asks special court to bring Naroda Gam case to logical end

The Supreme Court has reportedly ordered the special riot court hearing the nine major 2002 Gujarat riot cases, including the Naroda Gam case, to take them to their logical end, while stating that it would no longer monitor the cases. A report in The Indian Express said, quoting sources from the SIT, said that the latest order, issued on 23 July, was received by the special riot court two weeks ago, and grants the “special court time till 16 October, 2018, to complete the Naroda Gam trial”. [caption id=“attachment_5036021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A view of Supreme Court of India. PTI[/caption] The SC had ordered the formation of an SIT to probe nine major post-Godhra riot cases under its close supervision and monitoring in response to a 2003 criminal petition by the NHRC, claiming faulty investigation. The nine cases included the Gulbarg Society massacre and riots in Ode, Sardarpura, Naroda Gam, Naroda Patya, Machipith, Tarsali, Pandarwada and Raghavapura. According to the report, the Supreme Court also disposed of the 15-year-old petition, saying, “After scanning through all the orders which have been passed from time to time, we feel that the purpose of this petition stands served and no further orders are required.” It added that “if at any time interference of this court is required, either party would be permitted to file IA (Interlocutory Application)”. The SIT, formed in 2008, was led by CBI director RK Raghavan and served as the eyes and ears of the Supreme Court with regards to proceedings in the nine cases. However, after Raghavan sought to be relieved from the SIT in 2017, the Supreme Court had directed former DIG and the remaining member of the SIT AK Malhotra to file quarterly progress reports on the cases. Other members of the SIT including  YC Modi (now NIA chief) and K Venkatesham have also exited from the SIT and were granted. In 2012, the SIT had given clean chit to then-Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 57 others in the Gulbarg Society massacre and sought its closure. Sixty-nine persons were killed in the massacre including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. A total of 82 people are facing trial in the Naroda Gam case, including Maya Kodnani, once a minister in the Narendra Modi-led state government. She was sentenced to 28 years in jail in the Naroda Patiya riot case before the Gujarat High Court acquitted her in April this year. In the latest development in the Naroda Gam massacre, the Supreme Court-appointed SIT had told a special court hearing the 2002 Naroda Gam massacre case that BJP chief Amit Shah’s statement defending Kodnani, which was one of the main reason behind her acquittal in the Naroda Patiya case, is “not believable” and should not be considered. Recently, the court also allowed screening of CDs of sting operations and videos of the massacre to establish conspiracy in the case.