Godhra riot: Setback for Modi, SC notice to Guj,central govt

New Delhi, Jul 29: The Supreme Court on Friday, Jul 29 issued notice to the Gujarat and Central government over the petition filed by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt. It can be a huge setback for the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The apex court asked both centres to submit their replies within two weeks.

Bhatt's petition has demanded special investigation by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any other state police agency into the post 2002 Godhra riots case against the Gujarat CM.

Bhatt, a 1988 batch IPS officer was posted as DCP at the State Intelligence Bureau during the 2002 riots, claimed that Modi had organised a meeting in his residence on the eve of the brutal riot and allegedly said, "Muslims should be taught a lesson". Bhatt also claimed that he (Bhatt) too attended the meeting with some other top bureaucrats.

Bhatt had filed an affidavit against Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riot case and also claimed, "I have told my version of truth in the affidavit filed by me in the Supreme Court."

Bhatt, a Mumbai IIT graduate, was extensively questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by former CBI chief R K Raghavan, for three days on Mar 21, 22 and 23, 2011 in connection with the complaint of Zakia Jaffery, wife of slain Congress MP Ehsan Jaffery.

Zakia, in her complaint, has alleged that Modi and 62 others, including his Cabinet colleagues, police officials and senior bureaucrats aided and abetted the riots which left over 1,000 people dead across the state.

She had further alleged that, between Feb and May 2002 there was a "deliberate and intentional failure" of the state government to protect the life and property of innocents.

OneIndia News