Supreme Court Junks 'Larger Conspiracy' Charge In 2002 Gujarat Riots Case, Upholds Clean Chit To Narendra Modi
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-06-25 07:16:09
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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In a stinging order that can cause problems for many ex-bureaucrats, police officers and a few politicians in Gujarat, the Supreme Court upheld the findings of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Gujarat riots of 2002 which had given a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi (who was then the chief minister of the state) and had ruled out a 'larger conspiracy' behind the riots. The Supreme Court also said that the claims and charges made by some disgruntled officers and politicians were false and cannot be taken as irrefutable evidence to prove that the riots were part of a larger conspiracy in which the then Gujarat government was actively involved. The court categorically said that "it appears to us a coalesced effort was made by disgruntled Gujarat officials and others to sensationalize and politicize the issue by making revelations that were false to their own knowledge".
Coming from the highest court in the land, this is a very serious charge. It shows that some bureaucrats, policemen and even politicians of that time, either individually or acting in concert, tried to build a case of conspiracy against Narendra Modi and his government. Since it has been 19 years now and the evidence has been examined by several layers of the judiciary finally resulting in the Supreme Court pronouncing that those who made allegations against Modi knew they were making false allegations, it now needs to be investigated if there was indeed a "larger conspiracy" to gang up against him and defame and ruin his political career. The apex court has said "all those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law".
The major charge against the then Modi government in Gujarat was that it had actively participated in a conspiracy to 'teach a lesson' to the Muslims by instigating riots against them for the Godhra incident in which in which miscreants killed 59 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, by setting several bogies of the Sabarmati Express train on fire near the Godhra railway station in Gujarat. The Supreme Court has categorically said that "the structure of 'a larger conspiracy at the highest level' was erected" on the basis of "such false claims" (by disgruntled Gujarat officials) and it has "collapsed like a house of cards". It also dismissed the plea of Zakia Jafri, wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed by the rioters, for further probe in the incident, bringing a closure to the case that has dogged Prime Minister Modi for the last 19 years.
