On a February 28, 2002, after the Godhra train carnage, about 68 people who included Ehsan Jafri were killed in a mob attack at Gulberg Society. The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on 28 February 2002, during the 2002 Gujarat riots, when a Hindu crowd started stone pelting the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in Chamanpura, Ahmedabad. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims, including a former Congress Member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total deaths to 69. Ehsan Jafri was the former MP of Gujarat. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi who was the then Chief Minister was alleged to have involved in the criminal conspiracy of this riot. In December 2013, Zakia Jafri, the wife of Ehsan Jafri’s plea to include Modi in the chargesheet was rejected by the metropolitan court.
The Supreme Court had constituted a Special investigation team also to look into the involvement of the, then, Chief Minister, Modi. The SIT was headed by R. K. Raghavan, a former head of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. The SIT had on February 8, 2012 filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Modi and others in the case. Therefore, now, Zakia and Teesta Setalvad’s NGO Citizen for Justice and Peace had filed a criminal review petition and against the closure report of the SIT in the Gujarat High Court. On 17 June 2016, Eleven people convicted of murder in the Gulbarg Society massacre were sentenced to life in jail by a special SIT court.
Issue
Is there any veracity in the closure report of the SIT for suggesting absolutely no involvement in the criminal conspiracy?
Is Narendra Modi guilty for the criminal conspiracy?
Judgment : – The Gujarat High Court have not given the judgment yet. They have concluded the hearing of the case from the either side and the case awaits the judgment. This judgment has the effect of deciding on the tainted reputation of our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
