Court denies Zakia Jafri’s plea to depose from home

Ahmedabad: The special court hearing Gulbarg Society massacre case on Monday rejected an application of the special investigation team (SIT) to set up a court commission to record testimony of widow of former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, Zakia Jafri, at her home in Surat.

Last week, designated judge B U Joshi had dismissed a similar plea filed by Jafri citing her inability to move out of her house due to recent knee replacement surgery. The court had set Monday as the deadline for Jafri to come and depose before the court. The procedure of recording her statement has been delayed since February.
On Monday, special public prosecutor R C Kodekar submitted an application for constitution of a court commission to record Jafri’s statement, stating that she was an important witness for the prosecution. But the special judge held that the court would not form such a commission. However, the court did extend the deadline for Jafri and allowed her to come and depose before the court anytime till the deposition of the investigation officer — DSP J M Suthar was underway.
Jafri is the last witness in this sensitive case to be assessed by the court. Till date, some 332 witnesses have been examined during the trial going on against 67 accused.
It was on Jafri’s petition that the Supreme Court had asked SIT to probe whether there was a larger conspiracy behind the violence that took place at the colony situated in Chamanpura area.
Zakia had complained against 62 persons, including chief minister Narendra Modi. 69 persons were killed in the colony on February 28, 2002.