The 74-year-old R K Shah speaks about why he quit as a special public prosecutor, the problems he faced in trying to get the accused convicted and whether there is eveidence against Gujarat CM Narendra Modi in the case.
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".
The Gujarat government has granted yet another extension of six months to the Nanavati Commission, probing the 2002 post-Godhra riots, officials said on Tuesday.
The committee will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice U C Banerjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi after a Cabinet meeting.
Some BJP workers in the area have expressed unhappiness over her candidature.
Eleven convicts walked out of Godhra sub-jail after the Gujarat government allowed their release on August 15 this year.
Possible chinks in the Gujarat government's "conspiracy theory" were on Tuesday pointed out to the Godhra inquiry commission, which is in the final stages of hearing events associated with the burning of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002.
'The cases on hand have no genesis in the act of terrorism or waging war against the state,' the court said.
By polarising the Hindu vote, the expose might help the BJP and Modi, but in the long run, it will dent Modi's credibility.
Maulana Hussain Umarji was arrested at Signal Falia near the Godhra railway station.
The incident of burning S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, which triggered off violent riots in Gujarat, was a pre-planned conspiracy and not an accident, according to the first part of the Godhra Commission report.
The BJP alleges that the U C Banerjee Committee Report, which described the train fire as an accident, was made public with an eye on the polls.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Gujarat government to constitute within 10 days a special investigation team to re-investigate 14 cases pertaining to the post-Godhra communal riots. A bench headed by Justice Arjit Pasayat said the SIT would submit its report in a sealed cover to the court in 3 months.
Dr Singh on Wednesday said Lalu would not be asked to resign "for now".
According to the sources, the three accused had admitted the accident was caused by their mistake and they had not informed the higher-ups about the non-functioning of the traffic signal system.
Superintendent of Police Anoop Singh Gehlot said his statement will be recorded later in the day.
Sadhvi Meenakshi Devi, who deposed before the commission on Tuesday, did not turn up.
Praveen Togadia has said that it metes out injustice.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that the party had been maintaining from day one that the fire, which killed 57 kar sewaks returning from Ayodhya, was not the handiwork of a particular community but an accident.
Togadia also urged the Nitish Kumar-led government to take immediate steps to check ISI activities and make concerted efforts to tone up the administration to tackle the law and order problem.
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.
The car was subjected to several physical tests and various aspects concerning the nature of the damage on its body and interiors would be investigated, the police said.
"The signal was off. The signal maintainer and his helper came and then ran away. It means it is their mistake," Ansari said.
The committee headed by Justice U C Banerjee, which probed the Sabarmati Express blaze, had said in the report the fire was 'accidental'.
The results of the report are too therefore politically motivated," Javadekar said. The BJP, he added, was instead waiting for a court verdict on the Godhra train fire.
Their clarification came after some media reports said an unused railway coach was on Sunday set ablaze at Pratapnagar station in Vadodara during the enactment of the Godhra train burning incident.
Sources said the commission has completed the hearing of the matter related to the burning of the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express train on February 27, 2002.
Fifty-nine 'karsevaks' were killed in the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, triggering the worst communal riots in the history of Gujarat.
In an interview to Financial Times, the prime minister also expressed 'disappointment' with Pakistan's failure to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism.
The commission will visit the Godhra railway station and inspect the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express during its one-day visit.
Idris Yusuf Mafat was arrested from Lunawada town in Panchmahal district of Gujarat.
Demanding that the Banerjee Committee report be placed on the table of the House, Mr Madhusoodhan Mistry (Congress) said, "Mr Modi should not be allowed to continue even for a single day as chief minister as he has failed to do his duty."
The team comprises fire and other technical experts and they will probe the exact cause of the fire inside the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002.
'While we celebrate our victories, we need to remember that not every case can go for retrial at the hands of the Supreme Court.'
