Describing communal violence as “lava erupting from a volcano” which scarred the ground it touched, senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Wednesday questioned the SIT clean chit to 64 persons, including then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the 2002 riots there.

“I lost my maternal grandparents to it in Pakistan. I am a victim of the same,” visibly emotional Sibal told a Bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar on behalf of Zakia Jafri, widow of slain Congress MP Ehsan Jafri.

“My concern is really for the future…Communal violence is like lava erupting from a volcano. It’s institutionalised violence. Wherever that lava touches, it scars the earth,” he said, adding communal violence was a “fertile ground” for future revenge.

Alleging that there was a larger conspiracy, bureaucratic inaction, police complicity, hate speeches leading to violence, Sibal demanded that it should be investigated.

The arguments are likely to resume on Thursday.

The Supreme Court on October 26 said it would like to peruse the SIT giving a clean chit to 64 persons, including then CM Modi, and the justification given by a magisterial court that accepted the closure report.

The SIT on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that Zakia Jafri’s complaint alleging larger conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots was thoroughly examined after which it came to the conclusion that there was no material to take it forward. PTI

The original pieace may be read here