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On 26th of
December 2013, a Magistrate's court in Ahmedabad, India is expected to
deliver its verdict on the crucial Zakia Ahsan Jafri Criminal Complaint
against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 59 others. The verdict
will determine whether or not Modi and other accused will be
charge-sheeted for crimes listed further below.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE DECEMBER 26th VERDICT
The Indian Judicial system has a four level court hierarchy through which a complaint can be pursued.
1. Supreme Court
2. State High Courts
3. District and Sessions Courts
4. Magistrate's Courts
A complaint is typically pursued initially at the Magistrate court and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of India.
The
Zakia Ahsan Jafri case is pending judgment in the lowest court of India
i.e. the Magistrate Court in Gujarat. Depending on the outcome of the
case, either party may appeal the verdict in the Session's Court in
Gujarat and may pursue the appeal further through the Gujarat High Court
and the Indian Supreme Court.
Alternately,
as has been successfully argued in the past with many of the cases
relating to the 2002 Gujarat pogroms, the petitioner (Zakia Jafri and
CJP) may appeal to the Supreme Court to move this case outside of
Gujarat.
FACTS RELATED TO THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TEAM (SIT) APPOINTED BY THE SUPREME COURT
The
Petitioner had originally appealed to the Supreme Court to move the
case out of the state of Gujarat, given the control over the judicial
process the accused Modi administration has in the state. Contrary to
some prior judgments, the Supreme Court declined this request and in its
stead constituted a Special Investigation Team to assist the court with
the investigation. It should be noted that Special Investigation Teams
are routinely constituted by the Supreme Court to assist lower courts in
their investigations.
Unfortunately, the SIT members in the Zakia Jafri case were jointly named to the Supreme Court by the then Amicus Curie Harish Salve and the Gujarat Counsel while Salve was brokering a large business deal with
the Modi Administration. The SIT as recommended by Salve itself
comprised of several Gujarat cadre officers, who were subordinate to the
accused Chief Minister Modi and his administration. Salve was
subsequently replaced.pr-te
Several
of the SIT officers were either accused in the 2002 violence or were
indicted in other criminal cases for compromising the investigations:
- Geeta Johri -
A Gujarat cadre officer in the SIT, has been accused by the Supreme
Court of India of sabotaging the investigation of the 'fake encounter'
killing of Sohrabuddin[i].
- Ashish Bhatia -
A Gujarat cadre officer who has been accused of inducting officers into
SIT who were involved in the extra-judicial 'fake encounter' killing of
Ishrat Jahan, an innocent teenage girl shot in cold blood by Gujarat
police and later declared to be a dreaded terrorist out to kill Modi. He
is also accused of filing incomplete chargesheets in the 2002 violence
cases and pressuring the special public prosecutor in the Gulberg case
of tilt the prosecution against the eye-witnesses[ii].
- YC Modi -
member of SIT that led the controversial investigation in the murder of
Minister Haren Pandya under the Modi administration. The investigation
was criticized for scapegoating Muslim youth while the family of Haren
Pandya continue to accuses CM Narendra Modi of being the person who
ordered the murder of Pandya. Pandya's family maintains that he was
killed because he testified at the concerned citizen's tribunal accusing
CM Narendra Modi of urging his administration to "Allow Hindus to vent
their anger".
CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST MODI
Judgement awaited on December 26 2013
The
Zakia Jafri (supported by Citizens for Justice & Peace) Criminal
Complaint against Narendra Modi and 59 Others was ordered to be
investigated by the Supreme Court. Zakia Jafri & CJP have been
attempting to get serious criminal charges registered and investigated
since 8.6.2006. The Special Investigation team (SIT)
originally asked to further investigate Nine Major Trials was assigned
the task (27.4.2009). An Amicus Curiae was also appointed to assist the
Court. The SIT in its reports from 2010 onwards arrived at the
conclusion that while several of the allegations were found to be
correct, there was not sufficient material to prosecute the accused.
In
stark contrast, the Amicus Curiae senior advocate Raju Ramachandran
looking at the same evidence collected by the SIT, came to a contrary
conclusion, stating clearly that there was evidence enough to prosecute
Narendra Modi. Faced with this dilemma of two contrary assessments, the
Supreme Court remanded the matter to a lower Court directing SIT to file
its Final Report there. The SC specifically directed that if the SIT
filed a closure report, the Complainants were fully within their legal
rights to file a Protest petition and access all Investigation
papers/documents. (This is a right under Indian law but was specifically
outlined by the Supreme Court in its final judgement dated 12.9.2011).
Predictably,
the SIT filed a closure report on 8.2.2012 and remained adamant against
making Investigation papers available to the Complainants in contempt
of the Supreme Court order. The 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.
From
June 24-August 29, 2013 rigorous arguments in support of the Zakia
Jafri Protest Petition were made before Judge Ganatra, 11th Metropolitan
Magistrate, Ahmedabad.
A
committed band of lawyers including Sanjay Parikh, Mihir Desai and
Aparna Bhat argued the matter and submitted detailed Written Arguments
on 18.9.2013.
The Judgement of the Magistrate is now awaited.
Narendra Modi faces Fifteen Serious Charges of :-
1. Willfully Ignoring Messages from State Intelligence about
the Violent Repercussions of the RSS-VHP called 'Mahayajna' before the
tragic Godhra incident on 27.2.2002 and deliberately not initiating
precautionary measures that are imperative under Standard Operational
Procedure; messages from 7.2.2002 to 25.2.2002, including specific ones
that stated that batches of 2,800 and 1,900 kar sevaks had left for
Faizabad-Ayodhya and had been behaving provocatively and aggressively
against minorities on the way. As cabinet minister for home and chief
minister, he is directly responsible MOS Home Gordhan Zadaphiya is a
constant Co-Conspirator. Co-accused, ACS Home Ashok Narayan has admitted
these messages were received by the GOG Home department.
Evidence:- Official
Documents Including over one dozen messages of the State Intelligence
Bureau to the political head of the home department, Narendra Modi,
other senior bureaucrats named as co-conspirators in the Zakia Jafri
Complaint including accused former Director General of Police, K
Chakravarthi; Tehelka's Operation Kalank that was authenticated by the
CBI following an Order of the NHRC dated 5.3.2008 also contained direct
evidence of collection of arms, ammunition including dynamite by several
VHP and RSS men before 27.2.2002. All these messages are part of the
SIT Investigation Papers at Annexure III, File XXXIV D-176.
2. 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:-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.
3. 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:-Page 5-6, Annexure Volume IV to
Protest Petition contains AP Patel's Phone Records and atAnnexure 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.
4. Brazenly supporting the Bandh call
called by the VHP and allowing the streets and public spaces of Gujarat
to be used for mass attacks and violence. By 12 noon on 27.2.2002,
state intelligence and the police were aware of the Bandh call; Yet
deliberately no preventive steps were taken; the bandh was uses by the
police machinery to clear the streets of ordinary citizens so that
aggressive mobs could target minority populations and their
establishments.The first message directing preventive measures that
comes from the GOG home department against Modi is past 10 p.m. on 28.2.2002 when over 200 persons have been massacred in broad daylight in Ahmedabad alone. Only
two Preventive Arrests in Ahmedabad on 27.2.2002 that two of persons
belonging to the Minority Community despite the fact that over 2 dozen
attacks had taken place on Muslims all over the state on 27.2.2002
itself. Only two Preventive Arrests in Ahmedabad on 27.2.2002 reveal
that of the two of persons arrested on 27.2.2002 from Astodia, both
belonged to the Minority Community. The National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) commented on the state's dubious response vis a vis preventive
measures in general and preventive arrests in particular.
Evidence:- Message from the State Intelligence warming of the serious implications of the VHP bandh is available @
(Annexure IV, File XX, Serial Nos 374, Page Nos 8289 I the SIT Papers/
Record and the message from the GOG home department sent out at 10.15
p.m. on 28.2.2002 is available @ Annexure III, File XLI, Sr Nos 15 SIT Papers/Records; Statistics of Preventive Statistics of Preventive Arrests are available @ Annexure III, File I, D-2, Pages 254-255, SIT Record/Papers).
5. Cynically and illegally allowed Post Mortems 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:-
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.
6. Personally instigating individual RSS-VHP men and women
at the railway yard at Godhra assuring them that enough time will be
allowed by the Modi-led government and administration to extract a
revenge for Godhra.
Evidence:- Excerpts
of the authenticated Tehelka Transcripts of Ramesh Dave, Rajendra Vyas
of the VHP Haresh Bhatt of the BJP and Bajrang Dal. Anil Patel of the
VHP, Dhimant Bhatt of the RSS,, Dhawal Patel and Arvind Pandya from the
Tehelka Transcripts available @ Annexure III, File XIII, D-129 in SIT
Records and statements available at Annexure I Volume I and II of the
SIT record.
7. 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:- 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.
8. 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:- (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.
9. Preventing the Imposition of Curfew. Curfew was
deliberately not imposed at Ahmedabad while over 3,000 RSS workers were
allowed to gather at the Sola Civil Hospital where Jaideep Patel
arrived with the bodies of the Godhra victims at about 4 a.m.The
crowd was aggressive and violent as proved from the police control room
records. No steps were taken to disperse the crowd that attacked the
hospital staff and doctors, a High Court judge, Violent funeral
processions were allowed to wind through the streets of Ahmedabad for
several hours at two locations; worst Acharya Giriraj Kishore was given
police escort to come and further provoke the aggressive mob; the
cremations took place only in the evening and attacks on Naroda Patiya,
Naroda Gaam and Gulberg Society where over 200 persons were massacred
(and rapes allowed) in broad daylight on the same day, 28.2.2002, while
violent and aggressive funeral processions were willfully allowed by
Modi and the police and administration.
Evidence:-
Messages from the Police Control Room records that were first denied to
SIT but thereafter produced in a CD by former Commissioner of Police,
PC Pande, after the Supreme Court ordered further investigation on
15.3.2011 show a slew of such messages:- Page No. 5794, 5796-97 & 5826, Annexure IV, File XIV of the SIT record.
10. Making a pretence of verbally calling in the Army on
the late evening of 28.2.2002 but not actually allowing its deployment
in Ahmedabad, Godhra and Bhavnagar and Varodara until 2.3.2002 and
3.3.2002. Worse badly affected districts like Mehsana, Panchmahals,
Dahod, Anand, Kheda were not given an Army or Paramilitary at all.
Evidence:- Documents related to the Correspondence of the GOG Home department available in the SIT Papers.
11. Fourteen out of Gujarat's 25 districts were allowed to burn as
Ministers were specifically deployed by Modi to interfere with Police
functioning and sit in the State Control Room and Ahmedabad City Control
Room; in Eleven Districts where Violence was controlled, the Police
Officers in Charge were given Punitive Transfers to send a Political
Message. Modi heads the Home department that bends the Police
Bureaucracy and Police to his will.
12. 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:-
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.
13. Partisan prosecutors belonging to the RSS-VHP were appointed to
ensure that cases were killed in their infancy; bail was easily granted
to powerful accused until the Supreme Court stepped in, in 2003 and
2004. Two trials, the Best Bakery trial and the Bilkees Bano cases were
transferred out of the state.
Evidence:- Judgements of the Supreme Court on 12.4.2004 and 1.5.2009.
14. 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:-
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 SITRecord @ Annexure I Volume I states that Modi was extremely dismissive of these repeated requests for prosecution.
15. 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:- Pages 70-77 of the Compilation that consists of documents from the SIT Record; Annexure IV, File I Sr Nos 23.
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