NEW DELHI: India’s highest court yesterday ordered speedy trials of key suspects in 2002 unrest between Hindus and Muslims that killed more than 1,000 people, officials said.
The Supreme Court, however, rejected a plea that the trials, which had been halted over accusations of witness intimidation, should be held outside Gujarat to protect those testifying.
The Supreme Court set up six fast-track courts after a special investigation team completed a probe into the violence in the western state of Gujarat, the worst religious rioting in India in recent years. Key politicians and bureaucrats in the state could be among the defendants.
The ruling was in response to a petition filed by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking transfer of cases outside Gujarat. Rejecting NHRC’s plea, the bench consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Ashok Kumar Ganguly ordered setting up of designated courts for riot cases in Ahmedabad, Anand, Sabarkanta, Mehsana and Gulbarg districts. The bench said: “It is necessary to hold day-to-day trial considering the fact that seven years have passed (since the Gujarat-carnage).”
The Supreme Court yesterday admitted a contempt petition filed against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and will hear it in the coming week. The petition was filed on behalf on Zakia Nasim, wife of former Congress legislator Ehsan Jafri who was slain in the carnage. Zakia had earlier this week filed a petition demanding probe into role of Modi in the carnage. The apex court had directed Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed by it, to look into Modi’s role.
The contempt petition filed yesterday accuses Modi of allegedly commenting that probe ordered by Supreme Court was result of “conspiracy” involving Congress. The contempt petition also cites an advertisement claiming efforts were being made to send Modi to jail.
India’s Human Rights Commission as well as several nongovernmental organizations filed petitions before the Supreme Court in 2003 asking for a reinvestigation of the riot cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation and their transfer out of Gujarat.
The petitions found fault with the Gujarat police investigations and the role of the state administration in the cases and claimed witnesses were being intimidated.
During the seven years since the unrest, few have been prosecuted, prompting the Supreme Court intervention. Trials are expected to begin within a month.
The state government, which was then and is still controlled by the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party, has repeatedly been accused of not doing enough to stop the violence, and of even stoking it.
The fast-track courts will work daily on just the riot-related cases. India’s legal system is so overburdened that trials often run for decades.
Teesta Setalvad, the founder of Citizens for Justice and Peace, a private group working with riot victims, said she expects the trial of defendants, including some key state politicians, police officers and bureaucrats, to be completed within 18 months.
R.K. Raghavan, the head of the investigation team, said he was “delighted” at the Supreme Court decision, which he said reflected its confidence in the investigators.
In March, Maya Kodnani, a minister in the state Cabinet, surrendered to authorities after a special investigating team accused her of leading mobs that attacked Muslims during the religious riots.
— With input from agencies
