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Zakia’s plea fails

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Friday dismissed a petition of Ms. Zakia Jafri, wife of the former Congress member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, seeking the court’s directive to the police to register a complaint against chief minister Narendra Modi and 62 others for their alleged involvement in the Gulberg Society massacre during the communal riots in 2002.

Rejecting Ms. Jafri’s petition, which was supported by the Mumbai-based voluntary organisation, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), Justice M.R. Shah said the High Court could not direct the police to register a complaint. The court said an easier alternative was available to the petitioners to approach a magistrate for filing a complaint.

The court also refused to entertain the request of the CJP to accept the tapes of the Tehelka exposes as an additional evidence against Mr. Modi and others of their alleged involvement in the communal riots. Since the hearing on Ms. Jafri’s petition had ended in August and only the final order was pending, Justice Shah said the court could not take into account new evidences on the day of judgement.

Ms. Jafri and the CJP had filed the petition in the High Court after the State Director-General of police had rejected her request to frame a fresh First Information Report against Mr. Modi and others.

The DGP had pointed out that since an FIR was already registered and the investigation was in progress on the Gulberg Society massacre, another FIR on the same incident need not be registered.

The advocate for the petitioners, Sohail Tirmizi, later said the petitioners would approach the Supreme Court against the High Court’s judgment dismissing the petition.

Mr. Jafri was among the 38 killed in the Gulberg Society massacre on February 28, 2002, the day after the Godhra train carnage.

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