Sanjiv Bhatt's claim about CM's order to allow Hindus to vent anger must be tested in court, says Raju Ramachandran
The Supreme Court's amicus curiae in the Zakia Jafri case concluded that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi can be proceeded against for various offences during the 2002 riots, including promoting enmity among different groups.
On Monday, the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the complaint that there had been official complicity in the violence which claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, released all documents connected with the case to Ms. Jafri and her co-petitioner, Citizens for Justice and Peace. The papers — presented to the apex court at various stages and subsequently handed over to the trial court when it filed a closure report — ran into 20,000 pages, the CJP said, and included the SIT's reports as well as the two reports of the amicus , Raju Ramachandran, filed in January and July 2011 in response to specific directions by the apex court.
Though sources had earlier briefed The Hindu on the broad contents of the amicus ' report, its text has only now been made public.
In his report, Mr. Ramachandran strongly disagreed with a key conclusion of the R.K. Raghavan-led SIT: that IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt was not present at a late-night meeting of top Gujarat cops held at the Chief Minister's residence in the wake of the February 27, 2002 Godhra carnage.
It has been Mr. Bhatt's claim — made in an affidavit before the apex court and in statements to the SIT and the amicus — that he was present at the meeting where Mr. Modi allegedly said Hindus must be allowed to carry out retaliatory violence against Muslims.
Mr. Ramachandran said there was no clinching material available in the pre-trial stage to disbelieve Mr. Bhatt, whose claim could be tested only in court. “Hence, it cannot be said, at this stage, that Shri Bhatt should be disbelieved and no further proceedings should be taken against Shri Modi.”
Significantly, the amicus was of the view that in itself Mr. Modi's alleged statement was an offence under the law and he could be prosecuted under various Sections of the IPC: “In my opinion, the offences which can be made out against Shri Modi, at this prima facie stage, are offences, inter alia, under Sections 153 A (1) (a) & (b) (statements promoting enmity between communities), 153B(1) (c) (imputations and assertions prejudicial to national interest), 166 (public servant disobeying a direction of the law with intent to cause injury) and 505 (2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC.
In its reports, the SIT had dismissed Mr. Bhatt as an unreliable witness on several grounds: He had been silent for nine years; he had “an axe to grind” against the State; his language on what Mr. Modi said was not exact; he had tried to tutor witnesses; and his claims about attending a meeting called by Mr. Modi for 10. 30 a.m. on February 28, 2002 had been belied by his call records which showed he was in Ahmedabad at that time (Mr. Bhatt told The Hindu , two meetings took place on February 28, 2002, one in the forenoon and the other in the afternoon). The SIT also (Continued on Page 14)
