December 27, 2013
PRESS RELEASE
On behalf of thousands of survivors of
the 2002 genocidal pogrom that took place in Gujarat from February – May 2002,
the Citizens for Justice and Peace expresses deep disappointment and anguish at
the verdict of the Magistrate Court, Judge BJ Ganatra accepting the dismissal
of serious criminal charges of criminal conspiracy against chief minister
Narendra Modi and 59 others. The Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation
team (SIT) had filed a closure report in this case, despite finding many of the
serious allegations in the Zakia Ahsan Jafri complaint dated 8.6.2006 to be
true. The Judge on 26.12.2013 accepted the closure report of the SIT.
Amicus Curiae in this unique case,
senior advocate Raju Ramachandran had differed significantly with the SIT and
opined that there was enough evidence to prosecute Modi under Sections 153(a),
153(b) and 166 of the Indian penal Code. The
CJP will continue to assist Smt Zakia Ahsan Jafri in appealing to the higher
courts for justice. The 3-4 tiered
system of justice in India is designed to correct wrongs and we are confident
that the serious charges of criminal conspiracy, abetment, murder, arson etc
will finally result in the prosecution of the powerful. Meanwhile it remains a
trying time for survivors and human rights defenders who stand firm in their
fight for justice.
A detailed analysis of the 450 page
judgement will be made available by the CJP within a week. Meanwhile, the CJP
would like to state that the detailed construction of criminal conspiracy and
abetments presented before the Magistrate’s Court on legal and factual grounds
was completely ignored by the Court despite substantive evidence from the
investigation papers.
Counsel for the Complainant, relying on
statements recorded by the SIT, documentary and other evidence existing on the
record of the Trial Court, had argued, in detailed oral arguments presented to
the Court, between June-September 2013, that though the law requires
establishment of only a prima facie case
of serious suspicion for framing charges against Modi and other accused in
offences of cognisable nature, but, in fact, there exists more than ample
evidence, which is not only sufficient for framing charges but also for
proceeding with the trial and for convicting Modi and other accused on charges
of conspiracy and abetment for committing murder, arson and brutal massacre
throughout Gujarat.
The widespread violence that engulfed
Gujarat spreading to 19 of the State’s 25 districts – 14 very seriously - post
the tragic burning to death of 59 persons in the S-6 Coach of the Sabarmati
Express is perhaps the worst ever record of reprisal communal violence in
post-Independence India. It was not
simply the number of lives lost, though the number — perhaps 2,000 — is not
insignificant. It was the cold-blooded manner in which they were taken, as
armed militias with high level government sanction, ensured a high level
brutality in the killings, mutilation, rapes and burnings. Over 200 girls and
women suffered sexual violence, 18,000 homes and 1,200 hotels were gutted. The
unfortunate pattern behind the reprisal killings was that the loss of life and
property was that of the minority.
Since 2002, when the National Human
Rights Commission filed its Interim and Final Reports and 2003 and 2004 when
the Hon’ble Supreme Court first pulled up the State government for absence to
‘observe its Raj Dharma' and accused it of criminal negligence:“The Neros in
Gujarat fiddled as Gujarat burned”. Serious allegations of top level criminal
conspiracy in masterminding the violence have been made against the chief
functionaries of the government.
The
NHRC concluded in its Report dated 31.5. 2002 that “there was a comprehensive
failure of the State to protect the Constitutional rights of the people of
Gujarat”. The Supreme Court of India, while severely
indicting the Gujarat government, transferred two trials outside of Gujarat i.e.
BEST Bakery and Bilkees Bano. The Supreme Court has been well aware of the larger conspiracy behind the 2002 carnage and
the Court's orders, one after the other, in different cases related to the 2002
carnage, have reflected this. Various orders passed by the Supreme Court,
including the path-breaking directions in the Best Bakery case and other
important developments, ultimately led to the formation and reconstitution of
the SIT on 26.3.2008 to further investigate nine of the crucial trials relating
to the 2002 carnage.
Of the 300 violent incidents all over
the State of Gujarat that took place with sinister precision and conspiracy,
two of the worst in terms of intensity took place within Ahmedabad (Naroda
Patiya and Gulberg Society) with over 200 brutal massacres, including daylight
rapes and burnings the day after the Godhra train burning on 28.2.2002. At the Gulberg
society where Mrs Jafri and her husband lived, a total of 69 persons were
massacred in cold blood after young girls and women had also been raped. Over
200 distress phone calls, including several to the commissioner of police,
Ahmedabad and chief executive of the state had brought no relief. By August
2002 the Government itself had recorded 185 cases of attacks on women of which 100 were in Ahmedabad city and 57
attacks on children of which 33 were in Ahmedabad alone. Totally, 225 women and
65 children were killed.
Evidence
from the State Intelligence given to the Chief Election Commission (CEC) in
August 2002 revealed that communal incidents had taken place in 993 villages
and 151 towns spread over 153 assembly constituencies (out of a total of 182 in
the state). By Aug 2002 (as recorded in the Report of the Women’s Parliamentary
Committee) as many as 132,532 persons had been displaced / forced to leave
their houses & were living in 121 riot relief camps of which 58 were in
Ahmedabad city. By 1st June 2002 (as recorded in the Report of the
Women’s Parliamentary Committee) there had been 4954 cases (2023 urban and 2931 rural) of residential
houses having been completely destroyed. There were a further 18,924 cases of
partially damaged houses (11,199 urban & 7095 rural) - i.e. more than
23,000 houses had been destroyed or damaged by the rioters. Thereafter a further 5000 urban houses and a
1000 rural houses were destroyed or damaged.
It was
the sinister planning and systematic nature of violence that led the widow of
the slain former parliamentarian, Smt
Zakia Ahsan Jafri, assisted by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP),to file a
complaint dated 8.6.2006 of criminal conspiracy and abetment to commit mass
murder, violate established criminal law and police manual norms, destroy
records and evidence against the chief executive of the State- Narendra Modi
and 59 others.
After the complaint of
Smt Jafri was filed on 8.6.2006, when
the Gujarat police refused to register a case of serious offences of cognizable
nature, Smt Jafri and Citizens for Justie and Peace (CJP approached the Gujarat
High Court with prayers to order registration of FIR and transfer of
investigation to the CBI. When the High Court rejecting the Petition, Zakia Jafri and Citizens for Justice & Peace (CJP)
approached the Supreme Court. Notice was issued
on their Petition (SLP No. 1088/2008) on 3.3.2008. Thereafter, vide Order dated
27.4.2009 the SIT, which was already probing in other incidents, was asked “to look into” the
Complaint dated 8.6.2006. An Amicus Curiae was also appointed to assist the
Court in this crucial case. The SIT submitted its final report to the Supreme
Court in May, 2010 stating that while several of the allegations were found to
be true, no criminal prosecution could be initiated. The Supreme Court had then
directed the Amicus Curiae to assess evidence collected by SIT and give an
independent view. In his final report, the Amicus Curiae recommended the
prosecution of A-1 Narendra Modi under Sections 166 and 153a and 153b of the
Indian Penal Code.
Inspite of enough material on record to frame charges
against Modi and other accused, the SIT chose to submit a final report. The
Supreme Court directed that the said report of SIT will be considered by the
Trial Court. The Supreme Court also protected the right of the complainant to
access the records collected during investigation and file her protest
petition. (This is a right under Indian law but was specifically outlined by
the Supreme Court in its final judgement dated 12.9.2011). Despite the
voluminous evidence collected by the SIT during investigations and the
clear-cut assessment of the Amicus Curaie, the SIT filed a closure report on
8.2.2012 and refused to provide the Investigation papers to the Complainant in
contempt of the Supreme Court's order. The Ld. Magistrate granted the
Complainant her right to the Investigation Papers on 10.4.2012 but it took
Zakia Jafri & CJP another year to access all the Investigation reports of
the SIT submitted to the Supreme Court. The SC directed this on 7.2.2013 after
which the Protest Petition was filed on 15.4.2013.
Existing statements and documentary evidence were clear
indicators of a high level criminal conspiracy and abetment to ensure that mass
murder and other offences are committed against innocent citizens. Detailed arguments were made by the
advocates for the Petitioner between June-August 2013 pointing out from the
material on record that a strong case for framing charges against Modi and
other conspirators is made out for the trial to proceed and that at this stage
what the law requires is only establishing a prima facie case of strong
suspicion.
Evidence that exists against
Narendra Modi and 59 powerful accused include :-
·
Deliberately concealing knowledge of the provocative,
anti-Muslim sloganeering by kar sevaks at the Godhra station when the Sabarmati
Express reached five hours late on 27.2.2002, which information had been sent
to him directly by DM/Collector Jayanti Ravi and willfully failing to take
stern action and allowing violent incidents to escalate after the train left
Godhra by about 1.15 p.m. especially at Vadodara station where a Muslim was
attacked and killed and at Anand where the train stopped hereafter ensuring
that the state allowed a hate-filled and threatening atmosphere against Muslims
build right up to Ahmedabad where the train finally reached around 4 p.m. and
where bloodthirsty slogans were being shouted. FIRs in 19 brutal incidents
against Muslims are recorded on 27.2.2002 in Ahmedabad itself. Curfew was not
imposed despite these incidents resulting in deaths breaking out.
(Evidence of this :- Fax Message Sent by DM Jayanti Ravi and Message of the SIB are available @ .Annexure III, File XLI at Serial Nos 1 and Annexure IV, File IX, Serial Nos 241-in the SIT record)
·
Conspiring with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to plot and allow
reprisal killings all over Gujarat. The first phone call that Modi makes after
DM Ravi’s fax reaches him is, not to appeal for peace and calm, but phone
secretary VHP, Gujarat, Dr Jaideep Patel and direct him to Godhra. The
Conspiracy between Modi and the VHP is hatched and unfurled to cynically ensure
state-wide reprisal killings. Phone call records show these phone calls between
PA to Modi AP Patel and Jaideep Patel immediately after the chief minister
receives news of the Godhra tragedy. Phone call records made available by Rahul
Sharma (IPS, Gujarat) also show that Powerful Accused were in touch with the
chief minister’s office (CMO) and the landline numbers of the chief minister.
(Evidence of this :- Page 5-6,Annexure Volume IV to Protest Petition contains AP Patel’s Phone Records and at Annexure IV, File V and VI in SIT Papers; Conspicuously, the SIT records statements of all officials of the chief minister’s office (CMO) following CJP’s submission of the phone records to the Supreme Court but does not record A.P. Patel’s.).
·
Cynically, and illegally allowed Post Mortems Illegally out
in the Open at the Railway Yard, Godhra where the burnt and mutilated corpses
were laid in full view of an aggressive and irate crowd of RSS and VHP men and
women, who were gathered there in violation of Curfew Orders @ Godhra.
Deliberately allowing photographs of the burnt corpses to be taken and widely
circulated by the RSS-VHP and media in general, despite it being prevented
under law; Modi dispatching Accused Nos 2-Ashok Bhatt to oversee illegally
conducted post-mortems; Modi was himself present when these post-mortems were
conducted out in the open @ the railway yard in front of a mob of RSS and VHP
men;
(Evidence of this :- Phone call records between Modi and Bhatt, former health minister (since deceased) are evidence of how the latter was dispatched to Godhra; the Godhra Sessions Court judgement 69/2009/ 86/2006. 204/2009 @ Page 105; This was handed over to the Court on 29.8.2012 comments on the illegality of the post mortems and also has a vivid photograph showing the bodies lying in the open in the Railway Yard at Godhra; Section 223, 4(vi), Volume III Gujarat Police Manual lays down specific legalities to be followed for post mortems that specifically direct no photographs of gory bodies being allowed.).
·
Directing that the unidentified bodies of Godhra train
victims should be handed over to Jaideep Patel, a non-governmental person, that
too belonging to a supremacist and communal VHP to be brought to Ahmedabad
where aggressive funeral processions in full public view were allowed. Modi
directed this at a meeting at the Collectorate in the evening of 27.2.2002
before he returned to Gandhinagar. Jaideep Patel was allowed to be present at
an official meeting at the Collectorate. Jaideep Patel is a co-conspirator and
also facing trial for mass crimes in the ongoing Naroda Gaam case. Modi is
specifically guilty of allowing the escalation of violence from Godhra to other
parts of Gujarat and taking decisions contrary to law.
Evidence of this :- DM Jayanti Ravi’s statement to the SIT dated 15.9.2009 @ Annexure I Volume I, Sr Nos 19 in the SIT record, clearly states Jaideep Patel was present at the meeting at the Collectorate though Modi and Jaideep Patel, both denied it
·
Specifically instructing his top policemen and
administrators not to act evenhandedly in the days to follow and “allow Hindus
to vent their anger.” Two senior bureaucrats present at the meeting have stated
that cabinet ministers were present at a meeting that went on well past
midnight. Haren Pandya, a minister in Modi’s cabinet in 2002 had given evidence
of this to the Concerned Citizen’s Tribunal headed by Justice Krishna Iyer and
PB Sawant in 2002 itself. Later in 2009 a serving officer from the state
intelligence, Sanjiv Bhatt also gave the same evidence before the SIT and the
Supreme Court.
(Evidence of this :- (i) Statement of Haren Pandya to the CCT dated 13.5.2002 @ Internal Page 82 Volume II of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal Report in section on State Complicity @ Annexure III, File, I, D-2, D-3, D-4 of the SIT Record/Papers.; (ii) On 27.10.2005, in the Fourth Affidavit, R.B. Sreekumar before the Nanavati Commission dated 27.10.2005 stated that K. Chakravarthi, DGP Gujarat (A-25) had given information of the same words being uttered by A-1 Modi at the meeting on 27.2.2002 ; (iii) On 11.07.09 Statement of Shri R.B. Sreekumar, formerly Addl.DG (Int.), Gujarat to the SIT (Annex I, Vol I Sr. No.5, SIT Papers/Record) where he confirmed this; (iv)On 12.08.2009,Statement of Shri Vitthalbhai Pandya, father of Late Haren Pandya, R/o, Paldi, Ahmedabad (Annex I, Vol I Sr. No.12, SIT Papers/Record) where he stated that his son Haren Pandya had told him about attending the meeting at the residence of A-1 on 27.2.2002 in the late evening as also of the provocative instructions given by A-1; (v)
On 28.8. 2009, Justices P.B. Sawant
and Justice Hosbet Suresh gave two separate statements. Both eminent Judges, retired
Supreme Court and High Court respectively, also stated that three serving IPS
officers, Sami Ullah Ansari, Himanshu Bhatt and Vinod Mall also deposed before
them in person requesting anonymity but confirming that such illegal
instructions were issued.(Annexure I Volume I Sr.Nos 16 & 17 of the SIT
Record/Papers); (vi) On 30.10.2004,Mr. Rahul Sharma stated in his deposition on
oath before the Nanavati Commission that when he spoke to his superior officer
DGP, Gujarat, A-25 Chakravathi on 1.3.2002 at about 10:22 p.m. to request to
make more force available for him at Bhavnagar, the DGP told Mr. K Chakravarti
also told him that “the bureaucracy had been completely neutralised”.
Amicus Curiae Raju Ramachandran has
clearly stated in his Interim and Final reports before the Supreme Court
(20.1.2011 & 25.7.2011) that Evidence regarding the unlawful and incendiary
words spoken at the meeting of 27.2.2002 should be tested in a trial.)
·
Modi allowed violence to continue unabated until early May
2002 when KPS Gill was sent by PM Vajpayee to the state; the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC), April and July 2002 and Central Election Commission
(CEC) were misled about the spread and intensity of violence. This was willful
subversion of the justice system. The Subversion of the Home Department under
A-1 in which co-accused, Gordhan Zadaphiya, MOS Home, A-5, Ashok Narayan, ACS
Home, A-28, and K Nityanandam, Secretary, Home, A-34 played an active
part included deliberately misinforming the Ministry of Home Affairs of the
Government of India about the extent and spread of violence:- Correspondence
exists to reveal how senior VHP and RSS men were being kept out of the FIRs and
charge sheets related to serious massacres being filed by the Ahmedabad Crime
Branch; how violence was recurrent and was being allowed with even ministers
like Bharat Barot directly involved.
(Evidence
of this :- the NHRC and CEC Reports as also the correspondence between the
NHRC and chief secretary Subha Rao, also an accused (Accused Nos- 27) are clear
testimony of this subversion; ACS Home Ashok Narayan’s letters to DGP available
in SIT record show the subversion in keeping names out of FIRs etc)
·
Hate Speech was indulged in by Modi himself, on 27.2.2002
and right until the infamous Becharaji speech made top set off his election
campaign on 9.9.2002 and also cynically permitted by the Home Department under
him to spread poison and incite violence against Muslims and Christians. The
State Intelligence under ADGP-Int RB Sreekumar had specifically recommended
prosecution of the VHP for a series of incendiary pamphlets but this was
ignored. SP Bhavnagar, Rahul Sharma too had recommended the prosecution of
Sandesh, the Gujarati mainstream newspaper for publishing false and provocative
photographs and reports. Both the NHRC and Editor’s Guild had also strongly
recommended prosecution of those guilty of hate speech. Modi had, instead sent
congratulatory letters to those newspapers who had spread lies and venom. RB
Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt are among the officers persecuted by
the Gujarat government under Modi (home minister).
(Evidence of this :- Modi’s speech and its transcript is clearly
communal; Gujarat’s Intelligence department responding to the National
Commission for the Minorities (9.9.2002) clearly assessed the deleterious
impact of the speech ; Official letters of then ADGP Sreekumar dated 16.4.2002,
then SP Bhavnagar, Rahul Sharma and then CP Vadodara all strongly recommending
prosecution of VHP’s hate pamphlets and the Sandesh newspaper –all part of the
SIT record--were ignored by the political head of the GOG Home department,
Modi. Ashok Narayan’s statement to SIT dated 13.12.2009 available in the SIT
Record @ Annexure I Volume I states that Modi was extremely dismissive of these
repeated requests for prosecution)
·
Modi is guilty of ordering the Destruction of Crucial
documents including Wireless Intercepted Messages, Vehicle logs, Police Control
Room records and others on 30.3.2008, four days after the Supreme Court appoints
the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on 26.3.2008. He has headed the Home
ministry portfolio since that date.
(Evidence of this :-(Pages
70-77 of the Compilation that consists of documents from the SIT Record;
Annexure IV, File I Sr Nos 23)
Trustees:
Taizoon
Khorakiwala Nandan Maluste Teesta Setalvad
I.M. Kadri Cyrus Guzder Javed
Akhtar
Alyque Padamsee Anil Dharker Ghulam Pesh Imam
Rahul Bose Javed Anand Cedric
Prakash
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