Magistrate adjourns order till December 2 on Zakia Jafri's petition

AHMEDABAD: A local court today deferred pronouncement of its order on Zakia Jafri's petition against closure report of Supreme Court-appointed SIT, giving clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others with regard to alleged conspiracy behind the 2002 riots.

Metropolitan magistrate B J Ganatra deferred the pronouncement of order till December 2 on Jafri's petition.

Sources said the order pronouncement was deferred as the judgement writing is yet to be completed by the court.

Arguments on Jafri's petition by her lawyers and Special Investigation Team's (SIT) counsel had continued for five months before magistrate Ganatra, following which Jafri's lawyer handed over written submissions to the court on September 18.

On September 30, SIT had filed its written submissions and magistrate Ganatra had said that he would pronounce the order on October 28.

Jafri, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre here during the 2002 riots, had filed a petition objecting the SIT's closure report.

SIT, in its closure report on February 8, 2012, had concluded that despite difficulties in obtaining evidence in the case because of the lapse of eight years, whatever material it could gather was not sufficient enough to prosecute those against whom allegations of hatching conspiracy for 2002 riots had been levelled.

Protesting SIT's report, Jafri, on April 15 this year, filed a petition demanding rejection of report as well as an order from court to file chargesheet against Modi and others.

While defending its report and demanding the rejection of Jafri's petition, SIT counsel R S Jamuar had submitted that no direct or circumstantial evidence had been found during its investigation which can prima facie support Jafri's allegations.

However, Jafri's lawyers argued that SIT, throughout its investigation, totally ignored the evidence and materials and even alleged that the SC-appointed probe agency was shielding the main culprits behind the 2002 riots, in which close to 1,000 people were killed.