he 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 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 CBI.
The SC on Wednesday set a 10-day deadline for the Gujarat government to constitute the special investigation team to 'inquire and investigate' into 14 cases related to the 2002 communal riots, including the Godhra train carnage.
The 14 cases include the one in which Mohammed Rafudan Ansari and another person are named in FIR No 09/2002 as the accused who torched the Sabarmati Express at Godhra.
"The SIT shall inquire, further investigate into these cases," the bench headed by Justice Arjit Pasayat said while directing it to submit its report in a sealed cover within three months.
Image: A Bajrang Dal activist during mob violence and rioting in Ahmedabad in 2002.
Photograph: Sebastian D'souza/AFP/Getty Images
Also See: SC upholds ban on cow slaughter
The Gujarat Riots
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