as it has clearly concluded that that the inquiry did not throw up any material “that would justify further action under the law” against the CM.
According to Tehelka which published a report based on contents it claimed to have taken from the SIT report submitted to the Supreme Court, the SIT has concluded that “as many as 32 allegations were probed into during this preliminary inquiry. These related to several acts of omission and commission by the state government and its functionaries, including the chief minister. A few of these alone were in fact substantiated… the substantiated allegations did not throw up material that would justify further action under the law”.
SIT headed by, former CBI director R K Raghavan was set up by the Supreme Court which is hearing several petitions related to the 2002 riots cases. It has submitted its final report to the court last year in a sealed cover.
Tehelka claimed to have accessed the 600-page report . It said the SIT report had passed adverse remarks against Modi: “In spite of the fact that ghastly and violent attacks had taken place on Muslims at Gulbarg Society and elsewhere, the reaction of the government was not the type that would have been expected by anyone. The CM had tried to water down the seriousness of the situation at Gulbarg Society, Naroda Patiya and other places by saying every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”
Modi’s statement “accusing some elements in Godhra and the neighbourhood as possessing a criminal tendency was sweeping and offensive, coming as it did from a chief minister, that too at a critical time when Hindu-Muslim tempers were running high”.
Among the main findings of the report are:
• Despite ghastly attacks on Muslims the chief minister tried to water down the seriousness of the situation by saying that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
• Modi’s implied justification of the killings suggests a partisan stance at a critical juncture when the state had been badly disturbed by communal violence.
• No records, documentations or minutes of the crucial law and order meetings held by the government during the riots had been kept.
• Modi displayed a “discriminatory attitude” by not visiting the riot-affected areas in Ahmedabad where a large number of Muslims were killed. He however went to Godhra on the same day, travelling almost 300km on a single day.
• It appears that the political affiliation of the advocates did weigh with the government for the appointment of public prosecutors.