Gujarat riot cases:Supreme Court bars verdicts

The Supreme Court on Thursday restrained the trial court from giving its verdict in the Gujarat 2002 communal riots cases but refused to stay the ongoing trial. However, the apex court appointed former DIG of CBI, AK Malhotra, to verify allegations of lapses in the investigation of the cases and directed him to submit a report on the issue.

The cases in which trial is going on were investigated by the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the apex court to probe some of the cases arising out of the riots of 2002.

“The trial court shall proceed with the trial but no judgement shall be pronounced,” the bench of justices DK Jain, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam said.

The bench gave the order while hearing the petition filed by Teesta Setalvad of the NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace, and some other human rights activists who had sought a stay of the trial. The petitioners have also sought a reconstitution of the SIT for its alleged bias. The court said Malhotra would verify the allegations after examining the reply filed by the SIT on the issue, and submit his report to the court.

The Gujarat government has strongly opposed the reconstitution of the SIT and stay of the trial, on the ground that the trial was nearing conclusion as almost all witnesses had been examined.