The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to constitute a five-member Special Investigation Team to re-investigate the post-Godhra communal riots and said it would submit its report within three months.
The five-member team would comprise three senior IPS officers from Gujarat, Gita Johri, Sivananad Jha and Ashish Bhatia, besides retired CBI director R K Raghavan and former DGP C B Satpathy.
A three-member bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam said it would pass necessary orders on Wednesday for constituting the SIT.
The apex court indicated its intention to constitute the SIT after hearing the amicus curia and senior counsel Harish Salve and Gujarat Government's senior counsel Mukul Rohatagi for more then an hour.
The issue related to the petition filed by the National Human Rights Commission, which sought transfer of the trial of the riots' cases outside Gujarat and re-investigation by an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The NHRC had filed the petition after several witnesses turned hostile amidst allegations of threat, coercion and inducement to derail the investigation.
