SIT head’s conduct suspicious, says Congress

The Opposition Congress on Wednesday accused RK Raghavan, who heads the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing some of the 2002 riots cases, of being in cohorts with the state government to protect chief minister Narendra Modi and accused of the riot cases. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which met at Gandhinagar on Wednesday afternoon, passed a resolution raising suspicions about the former CBI director’s actions.

“The Supreme Court directed SIT to submit its report in September 2011, but there is an unforgivable delay on Raghavan’s part in doing so. His actions as SIT chairman raise suspicions of the worst kind,” CLP leader Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters after the meeting. He pointed out that Raghavan was being paid Rs1.5 lakh every month, and the state government had even borne the cost of his London trip.  The state BJP, however, has not taken kindly to Gohil’s allegations. The BJP’s legal cell said that the SIT was functioning directly under the Supreme Court and such charges against its head amounted to contempt of court.

Gohil said that Raghavan did not bother to record statements of key witnesses such as RB Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt.

“Amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran had submitted his report recommending action against Modi and 61 other main accused. But Raghavan is not acting on the report, and is seeking second legal opinion, and searching for loopholes to save the CM,” he alleged.

“The riot victims are worried whether they will get justice,” he said. Gohil also said that state government had showered unprecedented benefits on Tata Group (for Nano plant) and pointed out that it was after Raghavan, who was previously associated with Tata Group, became SIT chairman.

The CLP meeting, attended by Congress MLAs, MPs and core committee members, also chalked out the strategy to take on the government in the upcoming budget session of the assembly.