'It Is Quite Impossible That Petrol Was Thrown From Outside Into The Coach'

In his first media interview after he submitted an interim report on the fire in the Sabarmati Express in Godhra, Justice U.C. Banerjee spells out why he is convinced that the fire inside the train was an accident. The report, made public on January 17, just before the Bihar elections, has led to accusations that the retired Supreme Court judge was furthering Laloo Prasad Yadav's electoral ambitions. But Justice Banerjee, who had consistently refused bail to the RJD leader in the fodder case, is not perturbed. He has neither challenged any accusation nor bothered to justify his conclusions. Excerpts from an interview to Poornima Joshi:

How do you react to allegations that you deliberately submitted the report on the eve of the Bihar elections so that Laloo Yadav could derive political mileage?
I am not a politician. I do not analyse events and circumstances on the basis of who will draw political mileage out of them. I am not concerned. The terms of reference of the committee clearly say that a report is to be submitted within three months. A request was made for an extension of the term which was granted. But since I was asked for a report by January 15, I submitted an interim report on January 17. I did what I'm expected to do. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm not bothered by what people say.