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This is an archive article published on January 21, 2011

Don’t want UN to guide us on Gujarat riots: SC to Teesta

The Supreme Court pulled up the convenor of Citizens for Justice and Peace.

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Don’t want UN to guide us on Gujarat riots: SC to Teesta
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The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the convenor of Citizens for Justice and Peace,Teesta Setalvad,for sending to the UN Human Rights Commission her letters addressed to the special investigating team (SIT) probing the 2002 Gujarat riots. “We feel we are capable of taking care of what happens in our country. So now you want the international body to tell us what to do,” a Special Bench,led by Justice D K Jain,asked advocate Kamini Jaiswal,Setalvad’s lawyer.

The apex court had set up the SIT,headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan,to investigate the 2002 Godhra train carnage,in which 58 people lost their lives,and the ensuing communal riots in the state.

Asking whether Setalvad’s correspondence with the international body implied “distrust” towards the SC monitoring the cases,the court did not mince words when it said that it would not tolerate any “direct interference” like this.

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“We don’t appreciate a letter being sent to an international panel. In all those cases monitored by us,we do not want any correspondence with any international panels. This shows you have more confidence in that organisation than us,” the bench,also comprising Justices Aftab Alam and P Sathasivam,observed.

Jaiswal defended her client submitting that the international organisation was not a funding agency but monitors human rights violations globally. To this,the court snubbed back,saying,“So tomorrow the proceedings of this court will be reported to that organisation.”

“We are capable of doing our work. We don’t want to be guided,” observed Justice Jain.

The court closed the matter after Jaiswal said that in future Setalvad would not forward any such communication to the UN organisation.

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