The Supreme Court today asked the Gujarat government to give details of shrines destroyed during the 2002 Godhra riots. Earlier, the Gujarat high court had slammed the government for failing to protect over 500 shrines from being damaged and destroyed in the riots.

A bench of justice K S Radhakrishnan and justice Dipak Misra entertained the Gujarat government's appeal against the February 8 high court order and asked the additional advocate general Tushar Mehta to place the entire documentation before the court by August 9.

The high court had charged the state government with "inaction and negligence" in its order. Interestingly, the state objected to the high court order on the ground that it was contrary to the constitutional principle of secularism where no government could favour a particular religion. It said compensation to repair damaged religious structures could be akin to state's help to a particular community.