Justice At Last...

Teesta Setalvad:  The verdict is a complete vindication of the Supreme Court judgementordering the trial. The entire process of the re-trial was as every trial should be. It was thorough, transparent, probing andzealous. The re-trial, held outside the state on orders of the Supreme Court, has ensured probity and transparency as only seven of the total of 75 witnesses turned hostile as against 68 of the total 74 when the original trial was held in Gujarat.The chargesheet was the same, the evidence was the same, the only difference is that here a thorough prosecution was doing itsjob... There the state of Gujarat was the prosecution and it was trying to subvert thetrial. 

Abhishek Singhvi, spokesman, Congress: It is a stingingdefeat of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, his government and all that he standsfor. We strongly believe that there is a very comprehensive vindication of the stand of the Congress and of large sections of the Indiansociety. 

Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokeman, BJP:  Narendra Modi willingly complied with the Supreme Court order to shift the case outside Gujarat for afair' trial. The Gujarat Chief Minister enjoys massive public support in the state because of his governance.The riots in Gujarat were unfortunate. And we have always taken this view that the guilty both in Godhra andpost-Godhra attacks should be punished. The Congress and the Left, which are crying hoarse overModi, have people facing charges of massive corruption and even murders as UnionMinisters.

CPI-M Polit Bureau: The Narendra Modi government does not have the moral right to continue after this and the Centreshould independently pursue probe into other major incidents of communal violence in Gujarat in 2002.The judgement once again vindicates that the Gujarat government and its administration not only played a major role in thepost-Godhra communal carnage but has also systematically sought to protect theguilty. The apex court-appointed committee had indicted Zaheera Sheikh as a 'self-condemned liar' falling to 'inducements' by 'certain powers' to give 'inconsistent' statements during the trial of the case and cleared social activist Teesta Setalvad of all charges of inducement levelledby those seeking to subvert the delivery of justice in the case. Even at this late stage, the Central government, following the Supreme Court's direction, must independently pursue the investigations into the other major incidents of communal carnage that took place inGujarat.

Sitaram Yechury, polit bureau member, CPI-M:  We think that in this process the point we have been stating all along that the state government is protecting the guilty in the Gujarat riots has beenestablished. In the wake of the convictions, the Centre should initiate a CBI probe in at least five most important riot cases to ensure confidence is generated among the people that the criminal justice system cannot be subverted.

Madhu Srivastav, BJP MLA, Vadodara: NGOs including that of activist Teesta Setalvad were trying to malign the BJP government in Gujarat.It is a part of a conspiracy. They are trying to dent the image of the BJP government in Gujarat which has been in power for last three terms since1995. I do not want to say anything on the judgement. I am busy attending the budget session of the Gujarat Assembly in Gandhinagar and do not know about the details of thejudgement.

[Asked if he would help the relatives of the nine persons who were convicted, Srivastav said, "Why only these relatives? I being the people's representative will help all those who come to me for help.". He of course also maintained that he had never known Zaheera nor had he spoken to her in the past.]

Adhik Shirodkar, Defence lawyer: We shall file an appeal the moment we get a certified copy of the judgement and in that we will make the submission as to why the judgement should be disbelieved orrejected.