In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld the Special Investigation Team's closure report in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots case, rejecting the widow of an MP's complaint alleging a larger criminal conspiracy by the Chief Minister and senior officials. Despite extensive investigation covering 32 allegations and interviewing 275 persons, the SIT found no credible evidence of a meeting of minds among high-level officials to orchestrate violence. The Court noted that inaction and administrative failures, though serious, do not constitute criminal conspiracy absent tangible proof of deliberate coordination. Key witnesses—a police officer, a former minister, and another IPS officer—made claims later contradicted by call records and contemporaneous evidence.",
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.