IAMC Questions Court Verdict in Modi Case
The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC - www.iamc.com ), an advocacy organization dedicated to preserving India's pluralist and tolerant ethos, has called into question a dubious verdict of the lower court in the Narendra Modi Gujarat pogroms case, says a press release. It adds: A Magistrate's court in Gujarat handed down the verdict in the case filed by Mrs Zakia Jafri and Citizens for Justice and Peace on Dec 26. The court dismissed as inadequate the evidence available to charge-sheet Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on various criminal charges.
In a media advisory sent earlier this week, IAMC highlighted the chronology of how the Special Investigation Team was named by the then Amicus Curiae Harish Salve to comprise of officers with a record of conducting questionable investigations that were favorable to the Modi administration. Many of these officers belonged to the Gujarat cadre and as such reported to the Modi administration as subordinates.
Harish Salve was involved in brokering a multi-billion rupee deal with the Modi administration while he was naming the SIT members, an investigation later found out. Salve was subsequently replaced but the investigation was already compromised.
"The judgment by the lower court is not surprising given the fact that getting justice from any court in Gujarat is difficult under an administration that is itself the prime accused," said Ahsan Khan, President of IAMC. "Zakia Jafri's resolve to take the case to a higher court must be applauded. Declarations of Modi being exonerated are a deliberate attempt to mislead the public about the case's status," added Mr Khan...
"Given the pro-Modi team comprising the SIT, the lower court verdict vindicates the initial claim of the petitioner Zakia Jafri that free and fair trial is not possible in the State of Gujarat," said Ahsan Khan. "The Supreme Court must take cognizance of this fact and move this case outside of the state of Gujarat," he added. Given the compromised nature of administration and judiciary, the Supreme Court has already moved several cases related to the 2002 Gujarat pogroms outside the state of Gujarat...
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