The special court holding the trial in the Gulberg Society massacre case of 2002 rejected on Friday an application of the riot victims to stay the proceedings till the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team submitted its report.
Counsel for the riot victims S.M. Vora had moved the application after the SIT refused to submit its report before the special court. It said it would submit its report only before an appropriate magisterial court in Ahmedabad as directed by the apex court. The special court had then asked the SIT to present a copy of its report before it when it submitted it before the magisterial court.
Mr. Vora said he believed the SIT's final report could substantially influence the outcome of the proceedings of the trial court.
Justice D.H. Dhanda, who had earlier reserved his order on the application, said that staying the proceedings of the court pending the SIT's report was not necessary.
