A special Ahmedabad court on Friday refuted all allegations of a “larger conspiracy” behind the post-Godhra riots incidents. It concluded that it was former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the Gulberg Society massacre, who opened fire at the mob and instigated it, The Indian Express reported.
The court maintained that the mob that killed 69 people at Gulberg Society was not “really interested in causing deaths”. It made this judgement while announcing the quantum of sentence for the 24 convicts charged in the Gulberg case. While 11 people got life imprisonment, 12 others have been jailed for seven years. One other convict was given 10 years in prison.
The Supreme Court appointed-Special Investigation Team could not present any evidence of a larger conspiracy before the court, and thus gave a clean chit to all the accused. The case was filed by Zakia Jafri, wife of the deceased Congress MP. She had accused the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and other politicians and bureaucrats of planning the riots. She has now challenged the clean chit before the Gujarat High Court.
“Much attempts have been made to rake up this issue time and again. Applications were tendered in the course of the present proceedings, and independent proceedings have been initiated to seek relief under Section 319 of the CrPC [Code of Criminal Procedure] to arraign as co-accused senior police officers and other government officials, and such proceedings have been found to be without merit by all courts at all levels, including the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” said judge PB Desai while passing the judgement.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!