A Letter to Registrar of Supreme Court

Sir,

Reconstitute SIT: Guj ex-minister

Jaspal Singh wrote to SC, urging that SIT be reconstituted

Singh had urged the SC to notice Raghavan's and SIT's pro-Modi posture

DNA Correspondent

Even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was in the final stages of submitting its report on the 2002 communal riots of Gujarat to the Supreme Court, doubts continued to be raised against the agency's officials.Former IPS officer and former state cabinet minister, Jaspal Singh, wrote to the registrar of Supreme Court on May 7, 2010, seeking reconstitution of the SIT probing Zakia Jafri's complaint against chief minister Narendra Modi and others. The letter has cited seven grounds, with specific instances, for reconstitution of the agency,mainly casting doubts on SIT chief RK Raghavan's integrity and commitment to the investigations. The primary grounds stated to support his request is a clash of interest,consultant by the Tata group of companies, “with Raghavan appointed as security consultant by the Tata group of companies which has in turn been given perks of up to Rs9,000 crore by Gujarat government,” the letter states. Moreover, Singh has contended that “besides giving SIT officials from Gujarat police a free hand in investigation of riot related cases and favouring the accused,” Raghavan has been neglecting his work of supervision and monitoring of the investigation rules by the SIT. “The SIT chief has reiterated his faith in Gujarat police officers in media interactions, despite the apex court order to remove Geetha Johri and Shivanand Jha from SIT,” the letter states.

The most striking aspect, however, is the direct connection with Gujarat government that Singh has highlighted in his letter, stating that, “Raghavan is paid Rs1.5 lakh per month as per government of Gujarat legal department resolution No. SBII/COM/108/Special Team dated 30.06.2009. He is spending only 6-8 days in a month in Gujarat for SIT work. Moreover, he has been accepting favours from Modi government for claiming airfares from Ahmedabad to London and back, though his London visits were for private and personal reasons.”

Based on these facts, Singh had urged the SC to notice Raghavan's and SIT's pro Modi posture and reconstitute the SIT for ensuring justice.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnaahmedabad/epaperpdf/15052010/14ahm%20main%20edition-pg4-0.pdf

Common citizens have every reason to anticipate with dread and anxiety that the perks might have reached to the highest judiciary of the country as world watches the developments... Raghvan has brought disrepute to the Supreme Court by his misdeeds if Jaspal's authentic allegations have to be believed...

A. Patrawala Advocate
G-3&4, Vighneshvar Estate,
Nanpura,
Surat-395001 Gujarat India
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