2002 Gujarat Riots: SC closes all pending pleas, citing 'passage of time'

The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed all legal proceedings arising out of 2002 riots in Gujarat.

A batch of pleas relating to the riots in the state was pending in the apex court; however, the court said that the cases have now become "infructuous with [the] passage of time."

The court also pointed out that the trials in eight of nine cases have been concluded, and that the final arguments are currently on-going in the final one in the trial court in Naroda Gaon, Gujarat.

The 2002 Gujarat riots was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on February 27, 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence.

Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next one year.

Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat and later Prime Minister of India, was accused of condoning the violence, as were police and government officials who allegedly directed the rioters and gave lists of Muslim-owned properties to them.

In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court of India. The SIT also rejected claims that the state government had not done enough to prevent the riots.

The Muslim community was reported to have reacted with anger and disbelief. In July 2013, allegations were made that the SIT had suppressed evidence.

That December, a court upheld the earlier SIT report and rejected a petition seeking Modi's prosecution.

In April 2014, the Supreme Court expressed satisfaction over the SIT's investigations in nine cases related to the violence, and rejected a plea contesting the SIT report as "baseless".