SC okays riot probe report for Zakia Jafri

The Supreme Court today allowed Zakia Jafri to file a fresh protest petition in a trial court against the SIT's closure report reportedly giving clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in a 2002 riot case in Ahmedabad in which her husband and ex-Congress MP was killed.

The apex court directed that the widow of slain leader Ehsan Jafri be supplied with entire report of the inquiry by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the 2002 Gulburg Housing Society riot case of Ahmedabad to enable her to file the protest petition.

It clarified that the report shall be supplied without the comments of the SIT chief and she can file a protest petition within two months from the date of receiving the material against the SIT's closure report in the case in which 69 people, including her husband, were killed by a mob on February 28, 2002.

"We clarify that the petitioner (Jafri) is entitled to entire inquiry report placed in sealed envelope before this court on May 12, 2010," a Bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam, Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said.

It also set aside two orders of the Ahmedabad trial court of July 16 and November 27 of last year.

She had filed an appeal against the orders rejecting her demand for preliminary report filed by A K Malhotra, member of the SIT, in the Supreme Court and accepting the SIT closure report filed on March 13, 2012 in the case respectively.

The Bench in its order said the statement recorded during the inquiry of the complaint filed by Jafri should be treated as the statement recorded under section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which involves examination of witnesses.

It also said tthe statements recorded during the inquiry would only be used for taking decision on the closure report filed by the SIT into the case.

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