Govt gives this as the reason why it had given probe panel a 9-month extension.
The Nanavati-Mehta commission has informed the Gujarat High Court that it is in the process of acquiring the SIT report on Zakia Jafri’s petition, as well as the report on Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam massacre cases.
Advocate General (AG) Kamal Trivedi mentioned this before a Gujarat high court bench as one of the reasons why the state government had granted the commission a nine-month extension.
The bench headed by acting chief justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya has been hearing a PIL objecting to the extension granted to the Nanavati commission.
At this, the court expressed surprise and asked why the commission, which has been enquiring into the communal riots of 2002, wants to rely on the report of another agency (SIT). After passing a few stern remarks, the court again asked the state government to furnish details and give reasons why it had granted the commission a nine-month extension.
“The secretary of the Nanavati commission submitted a letter before the high court bench through the AG. The letter mentions that the commission has moved applications to get the SIT reports on Gulbarg society, Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam massacres,” said KG Pandit, counsel for the petitioner.
Pandit further said that the court had expressed surprise over the commission’s move as its terms of reference makes no mention of anything regarding the SIT report or its seeking the report of a different agency.
“I have also objected to the content of the letter in which the commission has said that it will prepare its final report once it acquires copies of the SIT report. The court then posted the case for further hearing on May 9,” Pandit said.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by one Jignesh Goswami through his counsel KG Pandit challenging the huge expenditure incurred by the state government on the functioning of the commission over the last 10 years. Pandit had objected to the recent extension given to the commission as the government had not taken the consent of the high court despite the fact that the matter was sub judice.
The SIT had investigated and submitted a report on Zakia’s petition giving Narendra Modi a clean chit in the matter.
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