Congress on Monday said it was wrong to say that the supreme court has give a clean chit to Narendra Modi in the Gulburg society riots case even as BJP welcomed the order, saying hate campaigners against the Gujarat chief minister will not win. "It is wrong to say that the supreme court has given a clean chit to Modi. Supreme court has referred the matter to the lower court for hearing and after a decision by the lower court, the doors of the higher courts are still open for aggrieved persons," Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said.

"Modi's actions during the Gujarat riots are known to all. Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself criticised his functioning during the post-Godhra riots. His record as chief minister of the state is a blot," he said.

However, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the party was happy with the order.

"We are happy with the supreme court ruling. We can understand the desperation and unhappiness of Modi-baiters. After this verdict, the hate campaign against Modi has lost. It can never win," he said, adding the supreme court has upheld the "due process of law".

"Justice says one cannot manufacture evidence. Now the SIT will present its case to the lower court which will hear the case," Javadekar said.

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Modi case: BJP reacting before issue settled, says Khurshid

Law minister Salman Khurshid on Monday said the decision of the supreme court not to further monitor the Gujarat riots case was in no way a clean chit to chief minister Narendra Modi and the BJP was reacting even before the issue has been settled by the judiciary.

He contended that the SIT report was still not in the public domain and "the supreme court has said the SIT must put its report before the magistrate (in Ahmedabad)...All this is still to happen and the BJP are claiming they are in the clean and are acquitted."

"I want to know whether they are privy to inside records of the supreme court, the high court or the trial court," Khurshid quipped.

In response to a question, Khurshid told reporters the issue has to be decided by the magistrate and "neither (BJP leader) Arun Jaitley nor I can decide outside the court".

The minister said the apex court has said that it cannot monitor the case after the chargen sheet has been filed but it has monitored the case till the point the charge sheet was filed.

In its order, the apex court has directed the SIT to submit its final report in the riots cases before the magistrate concerned in Ahmedabad.

The trial court has been asked by the Supreme Court to decide whether to proceed against Modi and 63 others, who include senior government officials for alleged inaction in containing the riots.