Gujarat riots: SIT submits Modi, Togadia's report to SC

The Special Investigation Team probing the alleged role of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in post-Godhra killing of ex-Congress Member of Parliament Ehasan Jafri on Friday submitted its report to the Supreme Court.

The SIT chief and former CBI Director R K Raghavan submitted the report in a sealed cover to the SC registry as directed by the apex court in its May 6 order.

The SIT had earlier sought time for submitting the report as it wanted to question Vishwa Hindu Parishad international president Praveen Togadia who was last week questioned by the SIT which had earlier questioned Modi and several other persons named in the complaint lodged by the slain MP's wife Zakia.

The apex court had on April 27, 2009, asked the SIT to look into the complaint of Zakia about the alleged role of Modi and others in Gulbarg Housing Society killing in which the former MP was burnt alive along with several others during the post Godhra 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.

Modi was earlier grilled by the apex court-appointed Special Investigation Team on his alleged role in the 2002 killing of Jafri as the deceased, according to the complaint, had made frantic calls for help to police and the CM.

The Gujarat government had in a subsequent affidavit in the apex court questioned the SIT's power to summon Modi for interrogation.

Earlier on May 6, the Supreme Court had restrained the trial court from pronouncing its judgement in 2002 post-Godhra communal riots cases but refused to stay the ongoing trial, as sought by certain NGOs and rights activists.

"The trial court shall proceed with the trial but no judgement shall be pronounced," a bench of Justices D K Jain, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam had said.

The apex court also appointed A K Malhotra, a former DIG of CBI, to verify allegations of lapses in investigations being conducted by the SIT into 2002 Gujarat communal riots.

The bench had passed the direction while dealing with the plea of the NGO Citizen for Justice and Peace of Teesta Setalvad and some rights activists who sought a stay of the trial and sought reconstitution of SIT for its alleged bias.