Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday hinted that the United Progressive Alliance government will challenge in the Supreme Court the Gujarat high court's verdict declaring the U C Banerjee Commission on the Godhra train blaze as illegal.
''The avenues for challenging the Gujarat high court's order are still open, and we will go to the apex court in this regard,'' Lalu said.
On October 13, the Gujarat high court had declared as 'unconstitutional, illegal and void' the setting up of the U C Banerjee Committee to investigate the cause of fire in in S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express at the Godhra railway station in February 2002.
The high court also ordered that the report of the committee, set up by the Railway Ministry in September 2004, should not be tabled in Parliament.
Justice B H Vaghela pronounced the order on a petition filed by a survivor, Neelkanth Bhatia, who had challenged the setting up of Banerjee Committee at a time when the Justice Nanawati- Shah Commission was already probing the matter.
''It is a judicial matter. One court has given an adverse verdict, but we will go to the Supreme Court to challenge it,'' the minister said.
On Sunday, Lalu had reacted to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's demand for his resignation, saying he would resign only when Modi quits as chief minister.
''I will resign only when Narendra Modi resigns... What right has the Bharatiya Janata Party got to demand my resignation when Modi has been found guilty by different panels, including the Banerjee Commission, and civil rights groups,'' he told newspersons at the Iftar party hosted by Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan at his residence.