Chargesheet in Godhra case cannot be taken as evidence

Ahmedabad, Apr 5: An accused in the Godhra carnage case today submitted before the Nanavati-Shah Commission that the chargesheets filed by the Investigating Officer before the Commission should not be taken into cognisance as these are only ''one-sided primary version of the prosecution'' and cannot form the base of evidence.

In a plea to the Commission, which is probing the Godhra carnage case of February, 2002, the accused-- Hussein Abdulsattar Durvesh-- who is out on bail, said the main chargesheet along with ten supplementary chargesheets cannot be considered as evidence by any authority making inquiry.

''The trial court .. . can come to the conclusion .. only after conclusion of the trial, when its entire evidence is put to judicial test.'' He submitted that before the conclusion of the trial, the merits of the criminal case cannot be adjudged by the Commission. He also feared any conclusion or observation made by the Commission on the basis of these papers could cause prejudice to the accused of the case and the trial by the POTA court may not be fair.

He urged the Commission to discard the chargesheets from the evidence and return to the Investigating Officer.

The matter will be taken up for hearing on April 29.

UNI