Justice (retd) G T Nanavati,who heads the Nanavati Commission probing the 2002 Gujarat riots,said today he was reluctant to take up the job. The retired Supreme Court judge shared this information at an informal talk with lawyers while hearing applications regarding the cross-examination of IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt,who has made allegations against Chief Minister Narendra Modi. I was reluctant to take up this job at that time (2002), he said,during a discussion on the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Commission. Nanavati said initially it had been decided that a sitting Supreme Court judge would head the commission but no one was available. The government then settled for a retired judge. There were only two retired judges at that time one Justice Majumdar,and me. And Majmudar was already entrusted with an assignment related to Narmada by the Supreme Court, he added. Nanavati said he was living in Delhi in 2002 and was busy with another assignment. He always knew he would face criticism in the new job,Nanavati said. Bhatt,who has accused Modi of complicity in inaction against rioters,claimed during discussion today it was presumed the Godhra train burning incident was not an accident. Bhatt also requested the Commission to get the intelligence reports of February 26-27,2002,which he had gathered and analysed,from the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) to learn the truth about the incident near Godhra railway station on February 27,2002. The state government extended the term of the Nanavati Commission,till June 30,in December last year; for the 15th time. The Commission comprises Justices Nanavati and Akshay Mehta. The Commission has probed 4,145 rioting incidents which took place between February 27,2002 and May 31,2002. The Commission,in September 2008,had submitted one part of its finding,where it has held that Godhra train burning was a conspiracy. Initially the 'terms of reference' was to inquire into facts,circumstances and course of events that led to the burning of the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station,in which 59 people had died. The terms were amended in June 2002,and the Commission was also asked to inquire into incidents of violence that took place after the Godhra incident.
