NE LEGAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI, FEB 4
The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed April 14 for hearing a plea by Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 violence.
A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari posted the matter for hearing in April after Zakia’s counsel sought an adjournment and urged the court to post it after the Holi vacation.
When advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for Zakia, told the court that the issue in the matter is contentious, the bench said, “It has been adjourned so many times, whatever it is, we will have to hear it someday. Take one date and make sure you all are available.”
Zakia had filed a petition in the apex court in 2018 challenging the Gujarat High Court’s October 5, 2017 order rejecting her plea against the decision of the SIT.
Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Gulberg Society on February 28, 2002, a day after the S-6 Coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra killing 59 people and triggering violence in Gujarat.
On February 8, 2012, the SIT filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Modi and 63 others, including senior government officials, saying there was “no prosecutable evidence” against them.
