‘Zakia Jafri can go to the Gujarat HC and the SC’

The legal battle involving chief minister Narendra Modi in the case filed by Zakia Jafri will not end any time soon even if the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has given a clean chit to him. According to legal experts, the victims of the riots, including Jafri, can approach the appellate court if the magisterial court accepts the closure report by SIT. The local magistrate now has to decide the fate of the chief minister and 63 others in the complaint as per the SC order.

Prominent lawyer Girish Patel said, "It is not an easy task to prove criminal liability against such a person. The legal battle can run long even after the assembly polls of Gujarat."

Patel said, "If the court accepts the SIT’s closure report, Jafri's lawyers can file appeal before the high court and the Supreme Court with all proofs and evidences to establish complicity of higher echelons of state in riots."

However, the scene would be different if the SIT did not file a closure report. "The court can act as per the law if the SIT implicated some of the officers or leaders shown in the complaint filed by Jafri," Patel further said.

The ball is now in the court of the magistrate as SC, while issuing the verdict last year, has ordered SIT to place its report before the magistrate who will decide the further course of action based on the report. Zakia had demanded prosecution of Modi and 63 others for failure to curb riots as well as for negligence.