File photo of Zakia Jafri, widow of Ehsan Jafri - Congress MP, who was killed alongside 69 others during the 2002 Gujarat riots
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the petition filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, against the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to Narendra Modi, other top politicians and bureaucrats in the 2002 Gujarat riots. The date of the hearing has been fixed for November 19, Monday.
Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people massacred at Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad during the Gujarat riots. His wife Zakia, NGO Citizen for Justice and Peace, run by Teesta Setalvad, had sought a criminal trial against Narendra Modi, the then chief minister of the state, alleging that he had turned a blind eye to the violence.
In 2012, a Supreme Court monitored SIT had concluded that Chief Minister Modi took all possible steps to control the riots that swept through Gujarat in the aftermath of the killing of 59 people when coaches of the Sabarmati Express train were set on fire at Godhra station.
The Gujarat High Court had last year rejected the petition that alleged a "larger conspiracy" in the riots, and had upheld the SIT clean chit to top politicians.
