‘Premature to talk of clean chit’

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Raju Ramachandran, who was the amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Gujarat riots case related to chief minister Narendra Modi, has said the top court has not given a clean chit to anyone. HT reports.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Raju Ramachandran, who was the amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Gujarat riots case related to chief minister Narendra Modi, has said the top court has not given a clean chit to anyone.

HT Image

“It is premature to talk of clean chits and indictments. The order is neither an exoneration nor a clean-chit for any of those listed as accused in the slain Congress leader Ehsaan Jafri's widow Zakia Jafri's complaint,” Ramachandran told the Tehelka weekly in an interview.

Asked about the reaction of the BJP, claiming the Supreme Court verdict as its victory, Ramachandran said: “ I would not like to comment on the reaction of this side or the other….The Supreme Court's order is an impeccable one. It upholds the rule of law. It protects the rights of both the complainant and the potential accused.”

On the differences between his report and that of the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), the senior lawyer said: “From the order of the Supreme Court, it is clear that my report will be considered by the SIT. If there is any difference between the SIT's viewpoint and mine, I have no doubt that such different viewpoints would be placed before the trial court.”

Ramachandran dismissed the apprehensions that entrusting the judicial proceedings back to an Ahmedabad court would lead to derailment of the process of justice.

He said the complainant would have all the judicial remedies available to her, in case she is dissatisfied with the trial court proceedings.

He refused to be drawn into the controversy that the SIT had not found any evidence against Modi. “The SIT reports and my reports are confidential till they are formally placed in court. Therefore, I would not like to speculate.”