Is Gujarat 'enemy country' for Centre, asks Modi

Hitting out at the Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the agency's plea to the Supreme Court to shift the Sohrabuddin case outside Gujarat was an insult to the judicial system of the state.

He also asked the Centre whether it considered Gujarat as a part of "enemy country".

"Do you not consider the state as a part of India," Modi asked.

Accusing the Congress of playing vote bank politics on the fake encounter case, Modi lambasted the ruling party at the Centre and also the CBI, which is probing the 2005 killing.

"There is an attempt to pollute the environment of Gujarat. This is an insult of the judicial system of Gujarat... its judges… its lawyers," Modi said at a function here.

"They are trying to malign my name for the last eight years. But now they have started maligning the judicial system of the state. I will not tolerate this. They can attack me but why the judicial system?" the chief minister asked.

"Am I doing anything wrong by fighting terrorism? Have I done anything wrong by arresting the accused of Ahmedabad blasts. Why I am being stopped from fighting terrorism?" he asked.

The central probe agency, which submitted a status report in the Supreme Court on Friday and placed records before it, has sought shifting of the case outside Gujarat for a "fair trial".

Amit Shah, former minister and a key Modi aide, has been arrested in the case.

"Why is Gujarat being treated as if it was part of an enemy state? Are judges of Gujarat useless? Other courts of the country are good, but courts in Gujarat are bad," Modi remarked.

"Gujarat's peace, brotherhood, development and progress is not liked by some people. They are working towards maligning it. There have been serious efforts to maintain peace in the state. But they do not want peace in Gujarat. They want to demean it," he alleged.

Citing the example of the Best Bakery case, in which the trial was held in a Mumbai court, Modi said even though the case was transferred to Mumbai, the investigation was done by Gujarat police, and the case papers and charge sheet was prepared by them.

"Only the courtroom and judge was from Mumbai, rest including the investigation was by Gujarat police, based on which the accused were convicted," he said.

Similarly, he said in the Bilkis Bano case, which was first transferred outside Gujarat, and then handed over to the CBI, all persons except one, named in the chargesheet filed by the Gujarat police were convicted.