Godhra case: Probe team gets extension

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the five-member SIT tasked with going into the post-Godhra riots till December 31 to complete its probe. Satya Prakash reports.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the five-member special investigation team (SIT) tasked with going into the post-Godhra riots till December 31 to complete its probe.

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A bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat extended the time given to the team headed by former CBI director R.K. Raghavan after it submitted its preliminary report to the court.

The SIT was set up by the court on March 26 after the Narendra Modi government said it had "no objection" to such a probe.

The National Human Rights Commission and some other petitioners had moved Supreme Court in 2003 seeking re-investigation and transfer of cases outside Gujarat. The court did not accept the NHRC's plea but set up the SIT.

The Gujarat government had opposed the transfer plea on the ground that it would amount to questioning the impartiality of the judiciary in the state.

In the course of the hearing, Justice Pasayat lost his temper after senior counsel KTS Tulsi, representing some of the accused, said the court had suspended the Constitution with one stroke of the pen and no court was prepared to hear their bail applications as they were being asked to approach the Supreme Court. Pasayat asked Tulsi not to raise his voice.