KAPADVANJ (GUJARAT)/ NEW DELHI: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has run into trouble with the Election Commission rapping him for justifying the Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing, even as he appeared to backtrack on his controversial remarks saying fake police encounters are "not acceptable".

Adding to his woes, Gujarat government's special counsel in the Supreme Court K T S Tulsi asked Modi to explain and apologies for his remarks failing which he would quit as counsel in the Sohrabuddin case. BJP, however, remained unruffled when the party said there is no dearth of lawyers to fight the case.

Slapping a notice on Modi, the Commission held prima facie his remarks amounted to indulging in activities which could aggravate communal hatred and tension. "There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes," the EC said quoting the Model Code of Conduct after a meeting in Delhi.

The notice was issued after the full Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy considered the various inputs and the complaint and has viewed the video recording of the speech, the EC said. Modi faced fresh criticism when lawyer Prashant Bhushan said his comments were a direct instigation for committing offences and it was a crime while Union Minister Kapil Sibal said it will be difficult for a lawyer to appear if the Chief Minister justifies the killings.

In an apparent attempt to defuse the controversy, Modi told Times Now TV that he has taken a clear stand on encounter killings. "I have said clearly that fake encounters are not acceptable. I have never justified fake encounters," he said in the midst of his campaign in Kapadvanj in Kheda district.