Option of Modi being summoned remains open, says Nanavati Commission

Gandhinagar, Apr 1(ANI): The Nanavati Commission, which is probing the 2002 Godhra incident, on Thursday informed the Gujarat High Court that its decision to not summon Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was not the final decision.

The Commission was today responding to a notice sent by the High Court on March 22, in which it was asked from the Nanavati Commission to clarify whether it would summon Modi by April 1.

The High Court was acting on the petition filed by the Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), which had moved an application before the Nanavati Commission in April 2007 demanding that Modi be summoned for questioning.

Talking about today's proceedings in the court, JSM lawyer Mukul Sinha said: "The proceedings were based on our request for the Chief Minister (Modi) to be summoned before the Nanavati panel."

"In September 2009, the Nanavati Commission had declined to summon the Chief Minister, but today they have replied to the High Court's notice saying their decision of not summoning Modi is not final and the option of him being summoned remains open," Sinha added.

Sinha further informed that the next hearing regarding the issue would be on 17 June.

This would spell more trouble for Modi, who was questioned by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on March 27 for over five hours regarding his role in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots. (ANI)