A confidential report by a Supreme Court-appointed lawyer has contradicted the special investigation team’s (SIT) findings on two crucial aspects to decide the role of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and top police officials in the 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre case. Raju Ramachandran, amicus curiae (friend of the court), has in his report found “no clinching evidence” to dispute the presence of suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt at Modi’s residence on the night of February 27, 2002.
HT has learnt that though Ramachandran hasn’t concluded that Modi should be chargesheeted based on Bhatt’s testimony, he has insisted the trial court subject Bhatt and all the officers contradicting him to cross-examination.
In its closure report filed in an Ahmedabad court, the SIT had declared Bhatt an “unreliable witness”.
Ramachandran said if Bhatt’s testimony passes the court’s scrutiny, Modi could be tried for promoting enmity between communities, making provocative statements and for imputations harming national integration. Disagreeing with the SIT, he said there was enough evidence to try police officials posted during the riots for criminal negligence.