The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will hear after four weeks a plea by Zakia Jafri challenging the clean chit by the SIT to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in connection with the 2002 Godhra riots.

Zakia, the wife of Ehsan Jafri, an ex-MP who was killed in one of the worst incidents during the riots, has challenged the Gujarat High Court’s October 5, 2017, order rejecting her plea against the SIT’s decision.  The SIT, appointed by the apex court, conducted the investigation into the case and gave a clean chit to Modi, other top politicians and bureaucrats, citing lack of “prosecutable evidence” against them.

According to official figures, over 1000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the riots.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi, and the counsel appearing for the petitioner said they have circulated a letter seeking adjournment of the hearing. “You are asking for four weeks and we are giving you four weeks. List the matter after four weeks,” the bench said.

—India Legal Bureau