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

Unperturbed by the accusations, the retired Supreme Court judge spells out why he is convinced that the fire inside the train at Godhra was an accident.

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'It Is Quite Impossible That Petrol Was Thrown From Outside Into The Coach'
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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:
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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?
Why is it necessary for you to probe the Godhra train incident when there is a full-fledged commission of inquiry for the very same purpose?
Are you saying the Railways had a motive in deliberately not ordering an inquiry within 48 hours of the Godhra incident?
Justice K.G. Shah of the Nanavati Commission probing the Godhra incident and the riots that followed has recently alleged that you did not examine officers of the Gujarat police or forensic science experts. What stopped you from calling them to depose?
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Justice Shah has also rubbished your conclusion that it was an accident. He says that 60 litres of inflammable material was used to set the train ablaze.
But there is a suggestion that the canvas in the vestibule between coaches S-6 and S-7 was cut open and 60 litres of petrol was thrown inside.
But Justice Shah says he has witnesses who have testified. He seems to be sticking to the theory of inflammable liquid.
Did a railway official actually give a report that said that the passengers could not alight from the S-6 coach because the door was bolted from outside? Isn't it technically impossible to bolt the coach from outside?
Justice Shah has accused you of tarnishing the image of Gujarat. What would you say to that?
laughs
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