2002 Gujarat riots: Inquiry report shows state took all steps to stop violence, counsel tells SC

The Gujarat government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that an inquiry panel that examined the steps taken to prevent the 2002 communal violence in the state had concluded that “all reasonable steps” were taken by the administration, reported The Indian Express.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the submission before the Supreme Court during an hearing of the riots case. Zakia Jafri, the wife of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the violence, has challenged a Special Investigation Team’s clean chit to 64 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2002.

Ehsan Jafri was among the 69 people who were killed when a mob went on a rampage in Ahmedabad’s Gulberg society on February 28, 2002, pelting stones and setting fire to homes.

Jafri’s counsel has argued that there was “a larger conspiracy” involving bureaucratic inaction, police complicity and hate speech that led to the violence.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Mehta referred to a report submitted by the inquiry commission, which was led by Justice GT Nanavati, to show that the government took steps to prevent violence, including emergency meetings and deployment of senior police officials to sensitive areas, reported Live Law.

“Regular police force was put on alert, the ones on leave were asked to join immediately,” Mehta…

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