2002 riots: SC says can’t monitor trial on daily basis

The Supreme Court on Monday observed that it cannot monitor the trial in 2002 riots cases on a day-to-day basis and that the proper recourse for any aggrieved person would be to approach the High Court.

"For a particular grievance against a trial court order, one should go to the High Court. We cannot, on a day-to-day basis, monitor the trial in the case or monitor every particular regarding implementation of various orders," observed a Bench of Justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur.

The court made these remarks while hearing a petition by Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri. Zakia has moved the apex court against an order of a trial court, which had refused her plea over supply of certain documents relating to the investigation by the SIT in the Gulberg Society massacre case.

Jafri was among 69 people killed by a mob in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002.

The SIT has filed a closure report in the case, giving a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other accused of complicity in the case. The trial court in Ahmedabad had on November 27 accepted the closure report filed in March by the SIT. It also closed Zakia's right to file a protest petition against the report.

Appearing for Zakia, senior advocate Kamini Jaiswal contended that her right to file a protest petition was defeated since she had not been supplied all the relevant documents that could have helped build a strong case.

However, members of the SIT present in the court claimed that except for a report which was submitted in a sealed cover in the apex court, all other documents had been supplied to her.

The Bench asked the SIT to ascertain if all the relevant documents, particularly those mentioned in Zakia's petition, had been supplied to her or not and fixed the matter for further hearing after a week.

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