Sabarmati Express fire was pre-planned: Godhra report

AHMEDABAD: The first part of the Godhra Commission report tabled in the Assembly on Thursday gave a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The report says that the incident of burning S-6 coach of Sabarmati express on February 27, 2002, was a pre-planned conspiracy and not an accident.

The report was tabled in the House as it met for a three-day session.

Justice (Retd) G T Nanavati and Justice (Retd) Akshay Mehta of the Commission submitted the first part of their report covering their findings on the burning of S6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra Railway Station on February 2002 to the state government last week.

The commission was set up in 2002 and it submitted first part of its report after six years. The commission is likely to submit the second part of its report about their findings on the post-Godhra riots and the role of government in it by December.

NGOs had opposed the tabling of the report in the state assembly by filing a petition in the Gujarat High Court.

The petition was, however, rejected by the court saying that there is no such provision in the Commission of Inquiry's Act which restricts any commission to submit the reports in parts.