Advertisement I would have lodged an FIR against Modi for manslaughter during Gujarat riots, says ex-SC judge

New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Even after Supreme Court-appointed SIT's clean chit to Bjp's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi in the post-Godhra massacre case, former Supreme Court Judge VN Khare considers the 2002 Gujarat pogrom as a "state-sponsored genocide" and says had he been in a position, he would have lodged an FIR against the Gujarat Chief Minister "on charges of genocide and manslaughter". "A state-sponsored genocide was on in Gujarat in 2002 and nobody had the courage to speak against it. The (then) prime minister (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) was quiet and the (then) deputy prime minister (Lal Krishna Advani) did not utter a word. The (then) president (Dr Apj Abdul Kalam) also did not say a thing even after so many people had been killed. All the accused were being let off. There were 400 cases and I read the FIR. I am amazed that even after carrying out such a big investigation, they did not find anything. I just read the FIR and concluded that it was a state-sponsored genocide," Khare told Hardnews magazine in an interview. Citing example of the Best Bakery case, the former judge said, "There was a thousand-strong mob which had surrounded Best Bakery and set it on fire at 06:45 pm. At a furlong a police patrol van is stationed, it is also mentioned in the FIR. One-and-a-half-kilometre away is the police station. An ACP is sitting there, according to the FIR. Then it goes on to say that at 11:45 pm the fire recedes on its own. These are the broad facts. A fire brigade could have gone and doused the fire. Some lives could have been saved. Why didn’t that patrol police van go and intervene? I read the FIR and concluded that it is a state-sponsored genocide." He went on to add that "had I been in a position, I would have lodged an FIR against Narendra Modi on charges of genocide and manslaughter. I said it in the open court. So, in such circumstances, what inquiry do you need – when even one fire extinguisher couldn’t come, nobody could even throw a bucket of water! Raising questions on the police handling of the violence in Gulberg Society, he says, " (Former Congress MP) Ehsan Jafri calls the police and an ACP comes. Jafri is not the only one there; there are many more people in his house. The ACP tells Jafri, I can take you from here. He refused and said, how can I go alone when there are so many others? He replied, ‘I will go only if you take the others.’ The ACP just refused. The moment this ACP leaves, Jafri’s house is set on fire. Why didn’t any fire extinguisher come to this society which is in the heart of Ahmedabad? Scores of people were charred to death." When asked about his views on some recent judgements that have faced a lot of criticism, he said, "I too believe that in a couple of cases, they went too far. They should not push their ideology in deciding cases. They should not colour the judgements with their ideology. It is going too far. It may sometimes rebound. But in their wisdom they have done it." In a big relief for Modi, the SIT gave him a clean chit last year in the post-Godhra Gulberg massacre case and sought its closure as it found no evidence against him. "According to SIT, no offence has been established against any of the 58 persons listed in Zakia's complaint," Metropolitan Magistrate M S Bhatt said in his order on a batch of petitions in which Ehsan Jafri's widow Zakia Jafri. The former Congress MP who was among 69 persons killed in the Gulberg society carnage. Zakia had filed a complaint against Modi, his ministerial colleagues, top police officials and BJP functionaries accusing them of wider conspiracy in the riots in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, had been killed.