GANDHINAGAR: A judicial commission which probed the fire in the Sabarmati Express coach in Godhra has said it was a "pre-planned conspiracy" and not an accident and gave a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, his ministers and police in the post-Godhra riots that claimed over 1,000 lives in 2002.
The 168-page report of the Commission headed by retired Supreme Court judge G T Nanavati, tabled in the assembly, said the burning of S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, killing 58 Karsevaks was a pre-planned conspiracy hatched at the Aman Guest house in Godhra.
The report contradicts the finding of the probe headed by another former Supreme Court judge U C Banerjee set up by the Lalu Prasad-headed Railway Ministry which said that the coach burning was purely an accident. Retired justice Akshay Mehta was the other member of the Nanavati Commission "There is absolutely no evidence to show that either the Chief Minister or any of the ministers in his council or police officers had played any role in the Godhra incident," said the report of Justice G T Nanavati, a former Supreme Court judge, that went into the train burning incident.
The report and the timing of its tabling evoked instant criticism from political parties and activists opposed to the BJP. They contended that the Commission was set up to "mislead" the people and to help Modi.
"On the basis of fact and circumstances proved by the evidence, the Commission comes to the conclusion that burning of S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express in which 'karsevaks' coming from Ayodhya was a pre-planned act," the report said.
The Nanavati Commission's findings have triggered a fresh political storm as Congress-led UPA and Left parties scoffed at them while BJP said the "truth" has been brought out. Congress said it was "not at all surprised" by the findings of the G T Nanavati Commission, appointed by the Gujarat government, giving a clean chit to Modi.
"We are not at all surprised by the result. It is a Commission created virtually by the principal accused Narendra Modi to investigate into the system of the State on which he presides," said Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.
RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, who had instituted the U C Banerjee Commission four years back to go into the incident, said "people will not believe that Modi is innocent" "He (Modi) is a communal virus center and has been disallowed to travel abroad.
Had he been punished for his crime, no youths would have turned terrorists today," Prasad said. LJP chief and Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan dismissed the Nanavati Commission report as"eyewash" and CPI termed the findings as "partisan".
On the other hand, BJP said the Nanavati Commission brought out the "truth" that Godhra train fire was a plot and "it will prove to be a milestone in convicting the culprits". "We will request that the matter proceed according to the Nanavati Commission report in the courts also," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
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