The final report was handed over by the commission, to the then chief minister Anandiben Patel on November 2014. (Express photo/File)The Gujarat government has agreed to table the final report of Justices GT Nanavati and Akshay Mehta commission of inquiry that probed into the 2002 Godhra train burning and the communal riots that followed, in the state assembly.
The final report was handed over by the commission, to the then chief minister Anandiben Patel on November 2014, months after Narendra Modi was elected as prime minister that year. The statement by the Gujarat government through advocate general Kamal Trivedi was submitted to the Gujarat HC on Friday, in response to a public interest litigation filed by retired DGP RB Sreekumar.
Sreekumar, who is known for his affidavits before the Nanavati-Mehta (earlier Nanavati-Shah) commission that gave evidence on the controversial role of the Gujarat government in the 2002 riots, had first made a representation before chief minister Patel in 2015 seeking that the report be made public.
The first part of the report that mainly dealt with the carnage case, was handed over by Justices Nanavati and Mehta to the then-chief minister Modi on September 2008 and was tabled in the state assembly immediately. This report gave a clean chit to Modi and his government.
Advocate General Kamal Trivedi’s statement before the HC said, “While categorically denying all the averments and allegations of the petitioner contained in the captioned writ petition it is stated that part-I of the Report of Justices Nanavati-Mehta Commission has already been tabled on Sept 25 2009 (sic), in the legislative assembly and it has already been decided to table part-II of the said report in the ensuing budget session of the legislative assembly”.
Sreekumar, whose petition was filed on August 30, by his advocate Suhel Tirmizi, had sought production of the report before the state legislative assembly, and it also sought “initiation of appropriate steps against the respondent (Gujarat government) and/or responsible authorities for committing delay in producing the final report of the Commission before the legislative assembly of the State of Gujarat in the interest of justice”
