SC asks for closure report of Godhra train carnage

New Delhi, Aug 29: The Supreme Court today directed the Gujarat government to supply a copy of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Delhi, report in relation to the propriety of closure reports filed by the Gujarat police in 2000 communal riot-related cases in the Godhra train carnage in which 52 karsevaks were charred to death.

The court had earlier requested the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court to spare a judicial officer of the rank of additional session judge to examine the cases.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in its petition filed in the apex court earlier, had alleged that out of the 2000 cases, in 1950 cases the closure report under section 173 of the CrPC has been filed by the state police despite sufficient evidence against the accused in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.

The NHRC has requested the Court to reopen all the cases in which closure reports have been accepted and ordered trial of the accused, a majority of whom belong to the Sangh Parivar and other related organisations like Bajrang Dal and VHP, among others.

A bench comprising Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice G P Mathur and Justice R V Raveendran adjourned the hearing till September 27 after directing the Gujarat government to supply a copy of district judges report to NHRC and other petitioners in the case.

The court also adjourned the hearing of transfer petitions seeking transfer of civil suits outside the state, claiming damages from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other senior bureaucrats, to the tune of about Rs 26 crore for not being able to protect the lives of five family members killed by rioters in Sabharkantha district of Gujarat.

Petitioners, including two NRI women, who lost their husbands are seeking transfer of their cases outside Gujarat on the grounds that a 'free and fair' trial was not possible there, as the defendants were the top functionaries of the state administration, which also include the Chief Minister.

UNI