In a relief to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the supreme court on Monday refused to pass any order on his alleged inaction to contain the 2002 Gujarat riots after the Godhra carnage and referred the matter to the magistrate concerned in Ahmedabad for a decision.

A three-judge bench headed by justice D K Jain directed the special investigation team (SIT), which is probing the riot cases, to submit its final report before the magistrate who was asked to decide whether to proceed against Modi and 63 others, which includes senior government officials.

The bench made it clear that there was no need for it to further monitor the riot cases.

The bench also comprising justices P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam said in case the magistrate decides to drop proceedings against Modi and others, he has to hear the plea of slain MP Ehsan Jafri's widow Zakia Jafri, who had filed a complaint against the Gujarat chief minister.

The court passed the order on a petition by Zakia Jafri alleging that Modi and 62 top government officials deliberately refused to take action to contain the state-wide riots, triggered by the February 27, 2002 Godhra train carnage.

Jafri, who lost her husband Ehsan Jafri, a former Congress MP in Gulbarg Housing Society massacre during riots, had told the apex court that a proper probe should be carried out by the SIT, headed by former CBI chief R K Raghavan, into her allegations of inaction and various acts of omission and commission by Modi and others after the riots.
The apex court had earlier handed over the task of probing the case to SIT which submitted its report in the court.

After the SIT filed its probe report in a sealed cover, the court had also asked senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who is assisting it as amicus curae, to analyse the SIT probe findings and file a confidential report on it.

Ramachandran subsequently had submitted his report to the court, which passed the order after going through the reports by SIT and him and referred the case back to the concerned Ahmedabad magistrate to decide the further course of action in the case.

The report filed in a sealed cover had analysed the SIT probe findings and evidence adduced by it in the case.

Ramachandran, assisting the bench in nine riot cases, had submitted his report on the direction of the apex court which had on May 5 sought an "independent overview" of the evidence recorded by the SIT.

The court had asked the advocate to analyse the SIT probe findings, take comments and statements of the witnesses and, if needed, interact with them for an "objective" assessment of the evidence.

The bench had on July 28 said it would pass the order on the basis of the report submitted by the amicus.

The court had also turned down the plea of the state government seeking a copy of the report and said it would be given only at the appropriate stage.

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''Will cooperate with trial court in Gujarat riots cases''

R K Raghavan, the chief of the supreme court-appointed SIT probing some of the 2002 riots cases in Gujarat, on Monday said his team will do its "utmost" to assist the trial court in arriving at the truth.

"The Special Investigation Team (SIT) will give our utmost assistance to cooperate with the trial court in arriving at the truth," said Raghavan, a former CBI director.

Raghavan was responding to questions by the media on the apex court direction to SIT to submit its final report on the riots cases before the magistrate concerned in Ahmedabad.

The trial court was asked by the supreme court to decide whether to proceed against Modi and 63 others, which includes senior government officials for alleged inaction in containing the riots.

He declined to comment on allegations that the SIT had gone soft on Modi in its report submitted to supreme court.

However, he said his officers have done a good job after a lot of hard work.

Raghavan said he will to have a look at the supreme court order before he can give any instructions to the SIT members.

The apex court had earlier handed over the task of probing the riots cases to SIT which submitted its report in the court.

After the SIT filed its probe report in a sealed cover, the court had also asked senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who is assisting it as amicus curie, to analyse the SIT probe findings and file a confidential report on it.

Ramachandran subsequently had submitted his report to the court, which passed the order after going through the reports by SIT and Ramachandran and referred the case back to the Ahmedabad magistrate concerned to decide the further course of action in the case.

'God is great'- tweets a relieved Modi

"God is great!" -- tweeted Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Monday summing up in three words his reaction to the Supreme Court direction in the 2002 Gulburg Society riots case.

The apex court refused to pass any order on Modi's alleged inaction to contain the state-wide riots triggered by the Godhra train carnage and referred the matter to the concerned magistrate here for a decision.

The reaction of the 60-year-old BJP leader reflected his relief over the order as he was being accused time and again by opposition Congress and activists of culpability in 2002 riots.

Zakia, widow of former Congress MP Eshan Jaffery had filed a complaint in supreme court against Modi and 63 others for death of his husband and others in the 2002 Gulburg Society riots case.

Supreme court had told the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by former CBI chief R K Raghavan to look into the complaint of Jaffery. SIT submitted its report in which they had concluded that no direct evidence of involvement of Modi could be found.

The supreme court-monitored investigation culminated into a situation where the court said the SIT report has to be placed before the trial court for decision. This has come as a great relief for the Gujarat CM who was being accused time and again by Opposition Congress of culpability in 2002 riots.