Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged instructions to his officials to allow Hindus to vent their anger after the Godhra attack may not amount to conspiracy to murder but could form the basis of prosecution under various Sections including 153 A, 153 B, 505 and 166 of the IPC.   These deal with statements promoting enmity between communities, imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration, statements conducing to public mischief, and public...

The report of Raju Ramachandran, the amicus curiae in the Zakia Jafri case, has laid the ground for Narendra Modi to be charge-sheeted for his alleged role in the 2002 anti-Muslim Gujarat pogrom. The report is still confidential, though it has now been shared with the Special Investigation Team set up by the Supreme Court to investigate and prosecute cases stemming from the 2002 violence in which more than 1200 persons...

In a setback to the police, Ahmedabad sessions court today granted bail to jailed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was arrested on September 30, based on a complaint filed by a police constable. Bhatt was accused of forcing a police constable KD Pant to file a false affidavit supporting his claim that Bhatt had attended the meeting called by the chief minister after Godhra train carnage. He was also accused...

-The Hindu   The former Director-General of Police of Gujarat, Julio Francis Ribeiro, on Thursday condemned the arrest of suspended Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who took on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged role in the 2002 post-Godhra riots. “I condemn the action of the Modi government arresting him and doing something unconscionable which is not within the limits of morality,” Mr. Ribeiro told a press conference organised by...

-The Times of India   Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has returned centrestage, though armed with a political and electoral agenda this time. He has warned the ruling Congress that he will campaign against it in five states going to polls next year - unless the government adopts the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament's forthcoming winter session. The Gandhian seems to have abandoned his earlier non-political stance, now identifying the Congress as a...