Zakia Jafri, the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, died on Saturday in Ahmedabad at the age of 86. Ehsan Jafri was among 69 persons who were killed inside Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, on February 28, 2002, a day after coaches of the Sabarmati Express train were burnt in Godhra, resulting in the deaths of 59 'karsevaks' returning from Ayodhya. The incident triggered horrific rioting across the state. Zakia Jafri hit the national headlines as she waged a legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court in a bid to hold top political leaders accountable for the large conspiracy for the riots post the Godhra train burning episode. Her son Tanveer Jafri said that his mother was visiting his sister's house in Ahmedabad when she complained of feeling uneasy. The doctor who was called in declared her dead at around 11:30 am. Social activist Teesta Setalvad, who was co-complainant in Jafri's protest petition in the Supreme Court, posted on X that Zakia Jafri was a compassionate leader of the human rights community.
Following is the timeline of events in the case in which the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots in the state.
Terming the 2002 incidents of Godhra and subsequent riots as a "national tragedy of gargantuan proportions", Sibal said the petitioner is concerned with how the majesty of the law will deal with such issues when men "behave like animals".
Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed at Gulberg society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002 during the violence, has challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 persons including Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots in the state.
The Supreme Court Tuesday said it would hear on October 26 a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri, challenging the Special Investigation Team (SIT) clean chit to Narendra Modi, who was the Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots in the state.
Every February 28th, Zakia Jafri relives the agony of witnessing the brutal massacre of her husband, former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, along with scores of other women and children. Despite deteriorating health, her hope that those responsible will be brought to justice, remains strong, notes Najid Hussain.
A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar upheld the Special Metropolitan Magistrate's order rejecting Jafri's protest petition against the closure report filed by the SIT.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a order entitling slain Congress MP Ehsan Jafri's wife Zakia Jafri to obtain the entire probe report submitted by Special Investigation Team in the 2002 Gulberg Society riots case.
Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress ex-member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, on Monday said she was very disappointed with the Supreme Court ruling in the 2002 Gulburg Society riots case but asserted that she will fight for justice till the end.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the special investigation team, which probed the 2002 Gujarat riots cases, to apprise it on whether documents relating to the closure report of the case of killing of Congress leader Ehsan Jafri can be supplied to his wife Zakia Jafri
Pragnesh Bhatt speaks to Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress ex-member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, after the Supreme Court referred the controversial Gulburg society riots case on Monday. Excerpts from the interview:
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday fixed for hearing on April 13 the plea of Zakia Jafri, wife of slain member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, challenging the SIT's clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots, saying it would not entertain any request of adjournment on the next date.
The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team on Monday termed as "instigating" the petition filed by Zakia Jafri.
The court said that the petitioner can approach a higher court for further investigation in the case.
A local court on Tuesday ruled that Zakia Jafri, whose husband and former Congress Member of Parliament Ehsan Zafri was killed in the Gujarat riots, has lost the right to file a protest petition against the Special Investigation Team's report giving a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, due to lapse of time.
A local court on Wednesday granted time till October 25 to Zakia Jafri to file a protest petition on the closure report filed by Special Investigation Team giving clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in 2002 post-Godhra riots.
A metropolitan court in Ahmedabad on Wednesday rejected pleas seeking copies of the Special Investigation Team's final report regarding Zakia Jafri's complaint saying it would decide on them only after all related documents are submitted by the probe agency.
Social activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been fighting for the victims of Gulberg Society, said they will study the judgement in depth and appeal in a higher court.
The bench said it will look into the application before hearing the matter on making Setalvad as the second petitioner in Jafri's plea.
Zakia, the wife of Ehsan Jafri, an ex-MP who was killed in one of the worst incidents during the riots, has challenged the Gujarat high court's October 5, 2017, order rejecting her plea against the SIT's decision.
Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots. Zakia Jafri, his wife, had filed the petition challenging the special investigation team's report giving a clean chit to Modi and 63 others.
A sessions court had recently rejected her discharge plea in the case, even as the Supreme Court granted her bail after the Gujarat high court denied her relief.
Zakia Jafri, the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed along with 68 others in the Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad during the Gujarat riots of 2002, visited the Gulberg society on the 21st anniversary of the massacre on February 28, 2023.
The special investigation team had not conducted any probe on the alleged larger conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots and there was an effort to 'protect' and ensure that people from the Bajrang Dal, police, bureaucracy and others are not prosecuted, Zakia Jafri told the Supreme Court on Thursday.
There was no material to substantiate claims of any larger conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots and the idea behind alleging that the violence was state-sponsored is to keep the 'pot boiling' which showed 'sinister signs,' the special investigation team told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Now, the chief justice of the high court will allot the case to a new judge.
A special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday submitted a charge sheet against activist Teesta Setalvad, retired director general of police R B Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a case of alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.
A Supreme Court bench on Monday said it cannot go into the issue of supplying Special Investigation Team (SIT) documents relating to the Gulburg Housing Society riot case in Ahmedabad in 2002 to the widow of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri.
Several family members of Rafiq Mansuri, his friends, former neighbours and acquaintances gathered on Monday for the 'haldi' ceremony of his 19-year-old daughter Misbah at his residence in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society, which was largely abandoned after the 2002 massacre.
Communal violence is like a lava erupting from a volcano which scars the ground it touches, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court on Wednesday while arguing for Zakia Jafri who has challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 persons including Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots there.
A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Thursday rejected activist Teesta Setalvad's application seeking discharge in a case related to alleged fabrication of evidence related to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In a big relief to activist Teesta Setalvad, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted her regular bail in a case of alleged fabrication of documents to frame innocent people in the 2002 post-Godhra riot cases while terming as "perverse" and "contradictory" the Gujarat high court order denying her bail.
Additional metropolitan magistrate MV Chauhan committed the case to the sessions court in Ahmedabad for trial against Setalvad, former state director general of police RB Sreekumar and ex-Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt.
The Lokpal was functioning without its regular chief since Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27, 2022.
Mumbai-based social activist Teesta Setalvad on Monday appeared before a sessions court in Ahmedabad in a case where she is accused of fabricating evidence to frame "innocent" people and defame Gujarat in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat, told a bench headed by Justice UU Lalit that a response to Setalvad's petition is ready but it requires some corrections.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Gujarat government's response on social activist Teesta Setalvad's bail plea and posted the matter for hearing on August 25.
A Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Saturday rejected the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, a 2002 Gujarat riot victim, to open the final report of the Special Investigation Team.
A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Saturday rejected the bail applications of activist Teesta Setalvad and former director general of police R B Sreekumar, arrested for allegedly fabricating documents to 'frame innocent people' in 2002 riots cases.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Deepak Gupta said the matter will be heard on November 19, as the court has not gone through the petition in detail.
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