E-Paper
I wasn’t summoned by SIT, says Modi
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday denied that the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) had fixed March 21 for questioning him in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday denied that the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) had fixed March 21 for questioning him in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.
At a time when there was discussion on why he failed to appear before the SIT, Modi said this in a "letter to countrymen".
"To say that I was summoned on March 21 is completely false," Modi said. He added that the date had been invented to discredit him.
He said no one was above law, and he would fully cooperate with the legal process.
It is believed that senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley helped Modi draft the letter. Jaitley himself released the letter to the media in Gandhinagar.
SIT Chief R.K. Raghavan had on March 11 said Modi was summoned to appear before SIT for questioning on March 21. The SIT office was kept open on Sunday but Modi did not turn up.
Without delving on the debate over the date, Raghavan said on Monday there was no response from Modi with regard to the summons till now.
In another development, the Gujarat High Court asked the Nanavati Commission, which is probing the riots, to clarify by April 1 whether it has taken a final decision not to summon the Gujarat chief minister for questioning.
A division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi sought this information from the government pleader while hearing an appeal by Jan Sangarsh Manch, an NGO representing the 2002 riot victims.
