Gujarat riots: SC directs lower court not to deliver verdict on Narendra Modi

Mangalore Today /CNN/IBN

New Delhi, Jan 18: The Supreme Court has ordered a local court in Gujarat not to pronounce its verdict on the alleged role of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots in the state. The Supreme Court ruled that until its decision of Zakia Jafri’s petition is not announced, the Gujarat court should not give its verdict. The magistrate has to decide whether the Special Investigation Team’s closure report is to be accepted or not.

 

Zakia, the widow of former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri who was killed during the riots, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court that the SIT had not given her all the documents so she should be provided those documents. Now the Supreme Court will decide whether the documents would be given to Zakia or not.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Harish Salve said that witnesses of Gujarat riots should be shifted out of the state as there was a threat to them if they stayed in the state. Salve will also file an application in the Supreme Court in this regard.

The verdict on Narendra Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 riots has assumed a great significance as there have been speculations that after his third victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections, he will move to national politics.