Thread by @barandbench

Justice AM Khanwilkar led bench hears a petition filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of slain Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Godhra riots #supremecourt
@narendramodi

Sr Adv Kapil Sibal: all the important evidentiary records have been destroyed my lords!
#zakiajafri #gujaratriots #supremecourt

SC: Mr Sibal, the best course would be not be going backwards...we have to start from the 2011 order.. there was an option to file a protest petition. history of 2009 and 2010 may not help us today. show us what report was presented and the protest plea filed in ref to the report

SC: Show us what ingredients of protest plea was not taken into account by the magistrate.

SC: whatever is presented before the magistrate is the relevant document and needs to be shown. You have to go by the record.

Sibal reads witness statements in the case.

Sibal: "not even one Muslim home was spared in the area.... when the witness saw the train burning he realised it was a big incident and thus there would be reaction to it"

Sibal: None of this was dealt with by anybody. Houses were burned, 106 properties in Dhansura, they were all destroyed. This particular sting, Ashish Khaitan was a prosecution witness in one of the cases...SIT relied on that sting in related to other accused.

Sibal: SIT relies on the sting operation and on this case discards it.

Sibal: We are not talking about Gulberg society we are talking about the entire state. if you limit it to Gulberg then it is the end of the matter.

SC: We are only going by your submissions

Sibal: I don't want to enter any political arena here. I only want the rule of law to be upheld

@KapilSibal #supremecourt #gujaratriots

Sibal: My lord a private person was handed over the bodies of persons who were killed and burnt. The person to whom it was handed over was Jaydeep Patel. this calls for serious investigation

@KapilSibal
#supremecourt #gujaratriots

Sibal: about 3,000 people had gathered My Lord. Though dead bodies were escorted from Godhra to Ahmedabad... unidentified bodies were disposed off.

@KapilSibal
#supremecourt #gujaratriots

Sibal: By the time these bodies reached Ahmedabad 3,000 people were there, it was early morning at 4 am. who made those phone calls? jayanti patel? does it need investigation? yes. But SIT saying a departmental enquiry is not enough

What business does an urban development minister have in being in the police control room? Does this not need a probe? it is confirmed. he just says that he never instructed anyone anything and that is accepted !!: Sibal

#gujaratriots

Sibal: what is this going on? you accept the statement of potential accused and you order departmental enquiry against Mamlatdar. your lordships are far too experienced for me to even make submissions on this: Sibal

#gujaratriots

Sibal: Investigations have now been reduced to supporting the accused and this is what is happening in states

SC: please don't generalise this. volumes of records have been collected

Sibal: but see what have been done with it.

Sr Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appears for the SIT: we will show you that we have faithfully investigated everything. we have also delved into the minister aspect of this. This report runs into thousands of pages and several witnesses were examined

Rohatgi: the entire protest petition and every allegation is against the Chief Minister..it was alleged that CM ordered no action for 72 hours after train burning.. every allegation is against the then CM of Gujarat @narendramodi

Sibal: Perhaps my friend is not aware that we have documents and there are violent acts if massacre and murder. I don't want to be in a situation where i am forced to argue a point which i do not want to. I am not on individual acts but the manner in which probe was conducted

Sibal: the manner in which it was done was far away from established criminal practices.

#gujaratriots

Sibal: I will not enter muddy waters even if i am being asked to. this will be a part of epoch-making judicial history.

#supremecourt #gujaratriots

Sibal: this now in 2021, this is from Feb 2002. For 19 years no one has asked this question. Wasn’t this responsibility of this great SIT that was constituted? What does law require? Law requires not to accept statements of accused, how can you close a probe like this?

Sibal: who will find out who were there in the control room. Where was the minister located when he was calling. All of this needs to be probed...

Justice Khanwilkar: We will intervene only if the investigation agency is compromised! We will not be intervening on account of ideology here

#gujaratriots

Sibal: What has SIT done anything about any of this Which i am pointing out.. nothing. #gujaratriots

Matter to continue post lunch #gujaratriots #supremecourt

Rohatgi: If Mr Sibal can finish today, i can wrap up tomorrow

Sibal: That is not possible at all.. I have some more volumes left to refer

#gujaratriots #supremecourt

Sibal: i cannot finish at all...

SC: Let Mr Rohatgi continue after the Diwali break,,,

Sibal: let me continue post the break also. You all should also take a break from this case

Rohatgi: if Mr Sibal can finish.... I will finish tomorrow

Sibal: That cannot happen (smiles)

SC: Mr Sibal submits that he will take some more time. Since the court will take a break next week, it will be appropriate that hearing continues after the #Diwali vacations

SC: Mr Sibal would be filing some additional documents. As a result, we defer the hearing to November 9, 2021
#gujaratriots #supremecourt

Sibal: please keep it virtually

SC: If there are PMLA matters then we will continue else it may be physical.

Sibal: smaller matters may be taken but not such large volumes

SC: We will take a call then

#supremecourt

Sr Advocate Sibal requests for hearing on Nov 10 since he has a pre-slotted matter on Nov 9

Bench adjourns matter to November 10, 2021