NEW DELHI: Appearing for Zakia Jafri, widow of Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that he too has been a victim of communal violence, having lost maternal grandparents after the partition of India in 1947.
“Communal violence is like lava erupting from a volcano. It is institutionalised violence. Wherever that lava touches, it scars the earth. It is a fertile ground for future revenge,” Sibal said. Arguing before a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar, Sibal said the Special Investigative Team looking into the Gujarat riots ignored a mass of evidence and drew conclusions without any investigation.
“SIT did not record statements, seize phones, check how bombs were manufactured and straightaway filed closure reports,” Sibal said, challenging the clean chit given by SIT to the accused including then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
He said the SIT ignored the tapes of a sting operation by Tehelka magazine, in which many gave statements on their participation in violence and accumulation of arms. Although these tapes were used for conviction in the Naroda Patya case and the Gujarat HC had endorsed their authenticity, the SIT ignored them in Jafri’s complaint.
Congress MP Jafri was among the 68 killed on February 28, 2002 — a day after a coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt, killing 59 and triggering riots.