The progress of justice in relation to the 2002 Gujarat riots is progressing slowly.  Six years after the Godhra train incident in February 2002, where a train carrying Hindu radicals returning from a pilgrimage at Ayodhya was allegedly set on fire by a Muslim mob.  The incident set off series of riots and communal violence as backlash against Muslims in Gujarat which caused hundreds of deaths and more than 60,000 people displaced.

In March 2008, a 3-member Bench ordered the Modi Government to set up a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to carry out a fresh probe into 10 cases of the 2002 Gujarat riots relating to rioting in 7 places, including Godhra where 81 people were killed and Gulbarga Society where 68 were massacred.  The Team included 3 senior police officers from Gujarat.    On 17 June, the Supreme Court asked Solicitor General and a senior advocate to assist the SIT.  A Vacation Bench also provided different kinds of legal assistance to the Team in conducting their probe.  The SIT is expected to submit a report within three months.

Earlier in November 2006, top judges of the Supreme Court of India demanded that 17 cases of communal violence be transferred for trial in other states.

In response to the communal violence and related displacements in Gujarat, Hotline Asia issued SUA020328(5) in March 2002 to request authorities to provide adequate relief measures to all victims, as well as a judicial enquiry by the courts to look into the entire situation and bring the guilty to justice.  SUA040621(2) was also issued in June 2004 to safeguard the safety of human rights activists and to investigate related abuse of the local government.


Source:
Indian Express

In November 2006, top judges of the Supreme Court of India have demanded 17 cases of communal violence be handed over and be transferred to trial in another states. The bench judges K.G. Balakrishnan, Lokeshwar Singh Panta and D.K. Jain passed this order on petitions filed by the National Human Rights Commission, Teesta Setalvad of the Citizens for Justice and Peace and other NGOs. The groups have sought reinvestigation of the cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation and to shift their trial outside Gujarat. The court further chastised the Gujarat government for having “completely forgotten the criminal code” and that the court “will not allow any criminal justice system to be derailed.”

In opposition, the state government of Gujarat sought dismissal of the petitions filed by those human rights groups. Further hearing is scheduled on 20 February, 2007.

Hotline Asia issued SUA020328(5) in 2002 to urge the Gujarat state government to provide proper and adequate relief measures to all victims of the communal violence following the Godhra train incident in February 2002. The SUA also called for a judicial enquiry by a sitting Supreme Court/High Court judge to look into the entire situation and bring the guilty to justice.

Source:
Local source