The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Gujarat Government on an appeal filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who challenged the Gujarat High Court decision to dismiss her plea seeking registration of a complaint against the Chief Minister and others for their role in the massacre of 68 people in the 2002 riots at Gulberg Society, Ahmedabad. Raising a substantial question of law, Zakia has urged the Bench headed by Justice Pasayat to consider her plea as she was a witness to the gory incident, which claimed the lives of as many as 68 people, including her husband. Claiming herself to be a witness to the entire incident, she sought directions allowing her to stand as a prosecution witness in the trial of the case.
According to a report, Zakia had even filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court, which rejected her plea on the ground that she has a remedy to approach with a private complaint before the Magistrate under Section 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code, that empowers the magistrate to order an FIR be registered in case the police failed to take appropriate action. Zakia had also sought direction to the police to register a complaint against Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 62 others for their alleged involvement in the Gulberg Society massacre case.