SIT says final report will be filed if needed

The Special Investigation Team, (SIT), which has submitted the status report of the nine cases it is reinvestigating, may not be required to file a final report on the cases as most are pending in the Supreme Court.

A senior police official close to the development said it was up to the Supreme Court whether it required the final report or not. “The final report will be filed if the apex court asks the SIT to do so,” he said. The SIT was not willing to comment on the cases which had reached the Supreme Court.

The SIT has already submitted a report of its efforts, which indicate the status of the cases it had been ordered to reinvestigate. All details of the cases being reinvestigated have been included in the status report. A source in the SIT said the status report included the arrests made during the reinvestigation as well the proceedings of the cases.
A source close to the development said the SIT was keeping its files confidential so they may not be accessed by anyone.

“Officials have already begun copying the details of the investigations conducted by the team, from the computers onto CDs,” the source said.

The source further said the final report would contain all details of the investigations conducted by the SIT. “The SIT will submit details of the people it has summoned in connection with the post-Godhra riots as part of the final report. The statements of witnesses and prima facie evidence against the accused will also be included,” the source said.

The SIT had earlier submitted a comprehensive affidavit in the Gujarat high court, citing grounds of the alleged involvement of minister of state for woman and child welfare, Maya Kodnani, and VHP leader Jaydeep Patel, in the 2002 riots. In its affidavit, the team had cited the statements of several witnesses which said that the leaders had incited mobs during the riots.