Decision on SIT report on Narendra Modi tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The suspense over the special investigation team's report on chief minister Narendra Modi's role in the Gulbarg Society massacre during the post-Godhra riots persisted on Monday, with an Ahmedabad metropolitan court deferring to Wednesday its decision on a petition seeking to make it public.

The SIT, which sought 30 days to submit related documents in the case, opposed giving its report on the massacre to Teesta Setalvad-led Citizens for Justice and Peace and senior lawyer Mukul Sinha, saying that they had "no locus standi in the case".

Besides opposing the duo in the court of metropolitan magistrate MS Bhat in Ahmedabad, which is hearing the closure report on the Gulbarg Society massacre, SIT also said Zakia Jafri, widow of slain Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri, could not be given the report as she was not a complainant.

Zakia had approached the Supreme Court in 2008 seeking a probe into Modi's role during the riots. In September 2011, the apex court refused to pass an order on Modi and directed the concerned magistrate of Ahmedabad to decide on the case.

SIT counsel SC Jamuvar said that certified copies could be made available only after the investigation officer made a statement on oath that the report had been submitted. "Teesta was not the original complainant, she joined later. The Supreme Court order says give report only to complainant, not complainants. Zakia is not a complainant at this stage, hence she cannot be given copy of the report," Jamuvar said.