Click to play videoAhmedabad: The two-members Commission of Inquiry comprising Justice GT Nanavati and Justice Akshay H Mehta popularly known as the Nanavati Commission and Gujarat High court are divided over the Sabarmati Express carnage of 2002 at Godhra in which 57 karsevaks were burnt to death.
While the Commission has said that it was an act of terror, the Gujarat High Court feels the complete opposite and has dismissed a plea for the imposition of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) on the accused.
The fire on Sabarmati Express triggered carnage across Gujarat but a division bench of Gujarat High Court observed on February 12, while dismissing a writ petition seeking imposition POTA of the accused, the incident was a serious criminal act, but certainly not terrorism.
"The review committee has also said that even if there was a conspiracy there is no proof to show that it was a terrorist conspiracy. Terrorist conspiracy means to try and destabilise the country or such activities which lead to spear of terror. This has not been proved," said Nitya Ramkrishnan, advocate for the Godhra accused.
The High Court's ruling has raised questions over the findings of the Justice Nanavati-Mehta Commission appointed by the Narendra Modi government to investigate the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Its first report on the riots said: "The conspiracy hatched by these persons further appears to be part of a larger conspiracy to create terror and destabilise the administration."
The Gujarat High Court and the Nanavati Commission clearly have completely different views on whether the Godhra incident was an act of terror.
It is another instance where the credibility of the Commission's finding is being tested.
Riot victims, from the very beginning had described the Commission as an attempt by Modi to cover up. The Gujarat High Court's ruling, they said, reinforced their worst fears.
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