2002 riots: Order on Zakia Jafri's petition deferred to December 26

AHMEDABAD: A local court once again deferred the pronouncement of order on Zakia Jafri's petition against SIT's closure report that gave clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 post- Godhra riots case.

Metropolitan Magistrate BJ Ganatra, who was on leave today, came to the court for a short time and informed the lawyers that he would pronounce the order on December 26.

Arguments on Jafri's petition lasted five months, till September this year. On September 30, the magistrate had said he would pronounce the order on October 28, but then he deferred the pronouncement till today.

Jafri's husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre here during the 2002 riots.

The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team, which probed Jafri's complaint naming Modi and others as being party to the conspiracy behind riots, said in its final report last February that whatever evidence it could gather was not sufficient to prosecute anybody.

Against this report, Jafri filed a petition in April this year, seeking its rejection and an order to police to file chargesheet against Modi and others.