New Delhi: Tanveer Ehsan Jafri, son of former Congress Member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, who was killed during communal riots in Ahmedabad on February 2022, has expressed resentment over the Supreme Court's decision to dismiss the plea by her mother against the clean chit given by the SIT to the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others.
In an exclusive conversation with ETV Bharat, Tanveer Ehsan Jafri called the SC decision “wrong” and said the apex court had not even heard the plea filed by his mother, but right away rejected it without perusal. “We had presented the evidence, the affidavit by cops and the newspaper reports about the incident. We had argued that given the intensity of the riots without any police intervention, it looked like that the state was involved, but the court instead of hearing the petition, gave a judgment against the petitioners while it is yet to verify the evidence we have produced.
Also read: Gujarat cops arrest Teesta Setalvad, remanded to police custody till July 2
The credibility of the evidence would be known once the hearing goes on, but you are labelling the petitioners as guilty even before the FIR was registered, Tanveer said. He said that the SC's decision will discourage the poor and destitute from knocking on the doors of even the lower courts for seeking justice. The SC on June 24 dismissed the petition filed by human rights lawyer Teesta Setalvad on behalf of slain Ehsan Jafri's wife Zakia Jafri challenging the SIT's clean chit to Modi and others in the February 2002 riots in Gujarat. Ehsan, along with 68 people, were killed in Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad a day after 59 Kar Sevaks were killed after a coach of Sabarmati Express was put on fire at Godhra.
Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat Police Crime Branch two days after the SC judgment, which was observed in the judgment, “As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the law.” Home Minister Amit Shah in an interview after the SC judgment alleged that Setalvad's NGO gave “baseless information about the 2002 Gujarat riots to the police”.
Her arrest came a day after former IPS officer RB Sreekumar, associated with the case was arrested by the police. Setalvad, however, vehemently denied the allegations against her and repeatedly told journalists while being taken to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court " I am not a criminal. I am not a criminal." Meanwhile, Tanveer Jafri said that they are making efforts for the release of Setalvad and others to take the case forward.
