Gandhinagar, March 28
A day after grilling Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the chief of Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team probing the Gujarat riots today said his questioning in the Gulbarg Society case was a “very big step forward in unravelling quite a few mysteries” and was confident he would file his report in the apex court by the April 30 deadline.

On questioning of Modi (59) by former CBI DIG AK Malhotra in two sessions lasting over nine hours, SIT chief RK Raghavan declined to go into details and said the panel reserved its right to recall the Chief Minister for questioning again if necessary, as was the practice followed in the case of any other witness. He also would not comment on questions whether the SIT would be filing an FIR in the Gulbarg case in the wake of replies given by the Chief Minister, saying he would have to first “appreciate evidence” after going through the replies.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the questioning of Modi, Raghavan, a former CBI director, avoided direct replies, saying, “Malhotra seems satisfied. I suppose it was a satisfactory interaction between the CM and Malhotra.”

Notably, the case pertains to the killing of former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffery and 68 others in Gulbarg Housing Society in 2002. Jaffery’s widow Zakia had filed a long complaint in which she had accused Modi of omissions and commissions and alleged that he had instructed officials not to act on the desperate telephone calls of Jaffri when the rioters attacked the housing complex.

Raghavan said that the petition of Zakia was the SIT’s “bible” and questions broadly related to it. On whether Modi would be called for questioning again, Raghavan said, “That depends on appreciation of evidence. When it reaches my table, I will have a look. If there are any grey areas or lacunae or gaps, possibly we may have a think. But there is no certainty.”

Queried about submitting the report to the Supreme Court, Raghavan said, “I am reasonably confident that I will meet the deadline of April 30. I will beat the deadline barring accidents. We will burn the midnight oil.”

On why he did not question Modi, Raghavan said as a “CBI bird”, he brought in the practice of the agency head not questioning witnesses or accused. “Malhotra is the enquiry officer and I don’t want to curb his style.”

On whether 62 questions were put to Modi, he said it seemed an “imaginary figure”. “Let him (Malhotra) give his report… The fact that I have brought in Malhotra shows I have tremendous respect for him,” he said, noting that after going through the officer’s report, he would remit it to legal opinion.