2002 Gujarat riots case: Zakia Jafri's counsel seeks adjournment until July, granted

A petition questioning the clean chit given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots case will now be heard by the Supreme Court in July this year. Zakia Ehsan Jafri, the widow of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed during the riots has petitioned the Court against PM Modi, who was the then Chief Minister of Gujarat.

On Monday, when the petition came up before a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi came prepared to argue the case on behalf of the Gujarat government. But surprisingly, the petitioner lawyer senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought an adjournment until July by submitting to the Court that there was no urgency to hear the matter.

The state has throughout maintained that the petition must be dismissed as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by former CBI Director RK Raghavan concluded there was no "prosecutable evidence" against Modi. Against this order, Jafri approached the Gujarat High Court as well, which too dismissed her plea in October 2017.

Jafri has claimed that the post-Godhra riots, in particular the Gulbarga Society case where 69 persons were killed including her husband, was part of a larger conspiracy by the state government and police machinery.