Court Cases

Court Cases

Numerous efforts by various human rights groups to seek justice for the victims of the post-Godhra violence and hold the perpetrators accountable have met with resistance and complete lack of support from the Gujarat Government. A Human Rights Watch report (2004) stated:

“Although, the Gujarat government, responding to international outrage, initially boasted of thousands of arrests following the attacks, most of those arrested were acquitted, released on bail with no further action taken, or simply let go.”[50]

Under Narendra Modi's leadership, more than 2,000 of the 4,000 and more cases filed by the victims of the violence were never investigated or else were dismissed, leading the Supreme Court of India to rebuke both the Gujarat judiciary and the Gujarat State Government for its handling of the cases, and transfer several cases out of the state for trial. According to Human Rights Watch, many of the crimes of 2002 have not been reported or the evidence has been doctored to not implicate certain politicians, and the cases that reach Gujarat courts often face a judiciary filled with Sangh members and sympathizers.[51]

Of the cases filed, there are currently two civil suits against Narendra Modi for crimes against humanity and genocide. Some of the cases include: Dawood Case: Among those attacked by Hindu extremists in February-March of 2002 were four British nationals, Mohamed Aswat, Sakil Dawood, Saeed Dawood, and Imran Dawood, and an Indian national Yusef Palagar, as the vehicle they were traveling in was stopped by a well-organized road-block erected in close proximity to the local police station on a main highway leading into Gujarat. Targeted as Muslims, the group were stabbed and burned. Only Imran Dawood survived.

On April 30, 2004, the widows and relatives of the murdered British Muslims filed a Civil Suit in district court in Gujarat against Chief Minister Modi and the state government for crimes against humanity and genocide.