SC defers hearing on Zakia Jafri plea in 2002 Guj riots case till Nov 26

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred hearing on a plea demanding a “comprehensive investigation” against the then serving ministers of Gujarat and senior bureaucrats for allegedly being part of a larger conspiracy that led to the 2002 riots in the state. The court later adjourned the matter until November 26.

A Justice A M Khanwilkar-led led bench questioned the locus of activist Teesta Setalvad as a petitioner in the case after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) – constituted to probe the riots - said she was never a party to the proceedings either before it or the Gujarat high court.

Setalvad is the second petitioner in the appeal before the top court. Zakia Jafri is the main appellant. Jafri’s husband, Ehsan Jafri, a former Congress MP, was among the 68 people killed in the Gulbarg society massacre in Ahmedabad.

The Gujarat high court had last year in October accepted the Supreme Court-appointed SIT’S report declining to probe the conspiracy angle. Both Jafri and Setalvad have appealed against the high court order accepting the SIT’S report.

“How is petitioner two (Setalvad) before us,” Justice Khanwilkar asked the petitioner’s lawyer, senior advocate CU Singh. The counsel replied Setalvad was assisting Jafri. “Where is the question of assistance? You can assist without being a party,” it said. Earlier, SIT’S lawyer, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, said the petitioners should not be allowed to drag the case. “For how long can this go on? The complaint was made in 2002 and your lordships monitored it,” he said.

The top court had set-up the SIT to probe the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Rohatgi objected to Setalvad being a co-petitioner.

During the last hearing, Jafri’s counsel had asked for the issuance of a notice on the ground that the aspect of alleged “larger conspiracy” during the period from February 27, 2002 and May 2002 needs to be looked into. AHMEDABAD: Chief minister Vijay Rupani came across an unusual sight on Monday in Bhuj when he visited the city to assess water scarcity there: hoardings with photos of unknown people.

It was not just Rupani, many around him, too, were unable to recognise the faces on the billboards. It soon emerged that the photos are those of Bhuj’s sanitation workers. The Bhuj Municipality has put them on the hoardings in recognition of the thankless job the workers have been doing for years to keep the city of 1.46 lakh people in Kutch clean.

Officials say the workers have remained faceless for years and called the hoardings a unique way of recognising their work. “Usually, we have hoardings of political leaders. We thought why can’t we also highlight those who work hard to keep our city clean,” said Sandipsinh Zala, Bhuj Municipality chief officer.

In total, 450 workers are on the list who will have big hoardings dedicated to them . The municipality would select top four workers every month and put up their hoardings for people to know.