The Nanavati-Mehta Commission is the commission of inquiry appointed by the
government of Gujarat
The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciar ...
to probe the
Godhra train burning
The Godhra train burning occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002, in which 59 Hindu pilgrims and '' karsevaks'' returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express train near the Godhra railway station in the Indian ...
incident of 27 February 2002. Its mandate was later enlarged to include the investigation of the
2002 Gujarat riots
The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hin ...
. It was appointed on 6 March 2002, with K. G. Shah, a retired
Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the ''Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960'' after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State.
The seat of the court is Ahmedabad. The pre ...
judge, as its only member. It was later re-constituted to include
G. T. Nanavati, a retired judge of the
Supreme Court of India, after protests from human rights organizations over Shah's closeness to then-Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...
.
Akshay H. Mehta, retired judge of the Gujarat High Court, replaced Shah when the latter died before the submission of the commission's interim report. Mehta was the same judge who had granted bail to Babu Bajrangi, the main accused of the
Naroda Patiya massacre
The Naroda Patiya massacre took place on 28 February 2002 at Naroda, in Ahmedabad, India, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. 97 Muslims were killed by a mob of approximately 5,000 people, organised by the Bajrang Dal, a wing of the Vishva Hindu P ...
.
In September 2008 the Commission submitted the part of its report covering the Godhra train burning incident (Part I) in which it had concluded that burning of the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near
Godhra
Godhra is a municipality in Panchmahal district in Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Panchmahal district. Originally the name came from ''gou'' which means "cow" and ''dhara''- which have two meanings dependi ...
railway station was a "planned conspiracy". The part dealing with subsequent violence was submitted on 18 November 2014. Its term ended on 31 October 2014, having received 24 extensions from the state government.
Background
On the morning of 27 February 2002, the
Sabarmati Express
The 19167 / 19168 Sabarmati Express is an express train which connects the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat to Varanasi city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh through Jhansi. The train may take up to two days to complete ...
, returning from
Ayodhya
Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...
to Ahmedabad, was stopped near the Godhra railway station. Several of the passengers were
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
''kar sevaks'', or volunteers, returning from a religious ceremony at the disputed
Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri mosque site. The train was set on fire by a
Muslim mob (Nanavati-Mehta Commission concluded that the burning of S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station was a "planned conspiracy."), trapping many people inside. The resulting blaze killed 59 people, including 25 women and 25 children. The event was generally perceived as the trigger for the anti-Muslim
riots that followed, in which some estimate upwards of 2000 people were killed, while 150,000 were displaced. Rape, mutilation, and torture were also widespread.
Appointment and membership
On 6 March 2002, the government of Gujarat appointed a commission of inquiry under section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 to investigate into the Godhra train burning incident, the subsequent riots and the adequacy or lack thereof of the administrative measures taken to prevent and deal with the disturbances that followed, both in Godhra and subsequently across the state. The commission was a single member commission consisting of Justice K. G. Shah, a retired
Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the ''Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960'' after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State.
The seat of the court is Ahmedabad. The pre ...
judge.
However, Shah's alleged closeness to Narendra Modi provoked outrage from the families of the victims as well as from Human Rights organisations, and resulted in call for a more independent head for the commission. As a result, on 21 May 2002, the government of Gujarat reconstituted the Commission into a two-member committee, and appointed retired
Supreme Court judge
G. T. Nanavati as chairman, which thus became known as the "Nanavati-Shah Commission."
Shah died on 22 March 2008, just a few months before the commission was due to submit its interim report, and on 5 April 2008 the Gujarat High Court then appointed its retired judge
Akshay H. Mehta to the committee on 6 April 2008. Commission is hence variously also known as the Shah-Nanavati Commission or the Nanavati-Shah-Mehta Commission. During its six-year probe, the commission examined more than 40,000 documents and the testimonies of more than 1,000 witnesses.
The credibility of the commission's report was called into question when the investigative magazine
Tehelka
''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...
released a video recording showing Arvind Pandya, counsel for the Gujarat government, discussing the commission. In the video, Pandya states that "Hindu leaders" need not concern themselves about the findings of the Shah-Nanavati commission; since Shah was "their man" and Nanavati could be bribed, the findings would definitely be in the BJP's favour.
Pandya resigned from the post of counsel for the government, stating that he had been framed.
Terms of reference
Initially, the Terms of Reference of the commission were to inquire into the facts, circumstances and course of events that led to the burning of the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express. On 20 July 2004, soon after the UPA government came to power in the centre, the scope of the commission was widened to include within its scope of inquiry, the role and conduct of the then Chief Minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...
and/or any other Ministers in his council of ministers, police officers, other individuals and organizations.
This action pre-empted the central government from constituting any other Commission, as section 3(b) the Commissions of Inquiry act of 1952 does not allow two simultaneous commissions into the same matter.
Term
The initial term of the committee was three months; however, its terms were extended for 24 times and its term ended on 31 October 2014.
Functioning of the Commission and investigation
On 7 March 2002, the Commission started its functioning at Ahmedabad. On 20 April 2002, it issued a notification inviting persons acquainted with the subject matter of the inquiry relating to the Godhra incident and post-Godhra incidents to furnish to the Commission statements/affidavits. The inquiry was conducted by the commission as an open public inquiry and the public and media were also permitted to remain present at the time of hearings fixed by the commission. . except on one occasion when Mr. Rahul Sharma was asked some questions ‘in camera’ for ascertaining certain facts. That part of his evidence was also made available to the parties later on. It issued summons to railwaymen and higher officers to compel them to produce certain relevant documents. In total 46,494 statements/affidavits were received by the commission. Out of them 2019 were statements/affidavits filed by the Government officers and 44445 statements/ affidavits were received from the public.
The commission initially examined the burnt S-6 coach to see its condition and the damage caused to it and later in the light of the evidence collected by it.
Part I of the report and conclusions
In September 2008, the Commission submitted its 168-paged Part I of the report, dealing with the Godhra train burning incident, which was tabled before the
Gujarat Legislative Assembly
Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member c ...
. The report concludes that the burning of the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was a premeditated crime and not an accident. It further gave a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying there was no evidence to show that he or anybody in his Government was involved with incident.
Regarding train burning incident
Commission concluded that "there was a conspiracy to burn coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express train to cause harm to the Karsevaks travelling in that coach." As per the commission, the conspiracy was hatched by some local Muslims at the Aman guest house in Godhra the previous night and the conspirators immediately made arrangements for collecting about 140 litres of petrol from a nearby pump on the night of 26 February 2002, the next day when the train arrived in Godhra, Hasan Lala, after forcibly opening the vestibule between coaches S-6 and S-7, entered S-6 and threw burning rags setting it on fire.
A dismissed
Central Reserve Police Force
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police F ...
officer named Nanumiyan, and Maulvi Husain Haji Ibrahim Umarji, a cleric in the town of Godhra, were presented as the masterminds behind the operation.
[The Godhra conspiracy as Justice Nanavati saw it](_blank)
The Times of India, 28 September 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2012
Archived
21 February 2012. The evidence collected by the committee in favour of this conclusion was a statement made by Jabir Binyamin Behra, a criminal who happened to be in custody at the time; however, he later denied giving any such statement. In addition, the alleged acquisition of 140 litres of petrol hours before the arrival of the train and the storage of this petrol at the house of Razzak Kurkur, accused of being a key conspirator, as well as forensic evidence supposedly demonstrating that fuel had been poured on the coach before it was burned, was presented by the committee.
The report concluded that the train was attacked by thousands of Muslims from the Signal Falia area.
The commission also concluded that there was no evidence regarding involvement of any definite religious or political organization in the
conspiracy.
The Commission claimed that there was no evidence to justify the contention that the kar sevaks had been fighting with Muslim vendors at stations before the incident as was alleged earlier, though there were some minor scuffles with three Muslim vendors on the Godhra platform. But it concluded that there was no reliable evidence to show that any attempt was made by the kar sevaks to abduct Sofiabanu, Salim Panwala to spread a false rumor to that effect to collect a mob that started pelting stones on the passengers.
According to the report, setting fire to the train was part of a larger conspiracy to instill a sense of fear in the administration and create anarchy in the state.
Regarding role of Narendra Modi and other ministers and officials
The Commission concluded that there was "absolutely no evidence to show that either Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and/or any other minister(s) in his council of ministers or police officers had played any role in the Godhra incident or that there was any lapse on their part in the matter of providing protection, relief and rehabilitation to the victims of communal riots or in the matter of not complying with the recommendations and directions given by
National Human Rights Commission."
Final Report
On 18 November 2014, the final report was submitted by the commission to the Gujarat government.
The report runs in over 2000 pages and is contained in nine volumes.
Responses to the findings in Part I
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...
welcomed the Part I of the report and termed it to be "most extensive, exhaustive and scientific". It said that the report would put an end to all theories which claim the burning of the train was an accident and that the fire broke out from inside.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "t ...
also welcomed the report. Its international secretary
Pravin Togadia
Pravin Togadia (; born 12 December 1956) is an Indian doctor, cancer surgeon and an advocate for Hindu nationalism, coming from the state of Gujarat. He was the former International Working President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and a canc ...
said that the report has established that Godhra train carnage was a "pre-planned attack."
The
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...
and the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
both objected to the exoneration of the Gujarat government by the commission, citing the timing of the report (with the general elections months away) as evidence of unfairness. Congress spokesperson
Veerappa Moily
Marpadi Veerappa Moily (born 12 January 1940) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress from the state of Karnataka.
Moily was the former Chief Minister (and the first ethnic Tuluva CM) of the Indian state of Karnataka ...
commented at the strange absolvement of the Gujarat government for complacency for the carnage before the commission's second and final report had been brought out. The CPI (M) said that the report reinforced communal prejudices. The commission has come in for heavy criticism from academics such as
Christophe Jaffrelot for obstructing the course of justice, supporting the conspiracy theory too quickly, and for allegedly ignoring evidence of governmental complicity in the incident.
The Concerned Citizens Tribunal (CCT), headed by
Teesta Setalvad
Teesta Setalvad (born 9 February 1962) is an Indian civil rights activist and journalist. She is the secretary of ''Citizens for Justice and Peace'' (CJP), an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots.
Personal life
...
, carried out a separate investigation in 2002 and concluded that the fire had been accidental, stating that the attack by a mob was part of a government conspiracy to trigger violence across the state.
Several other independent commentators have also concluded that the fire itself was almost certainly an accident, saying that the initial cause of the blaze would not ever be determined.
[
] The Nanavati-Shah Commission findings explicitly contradict these views.
Court verdict
In February 2011, the trial court convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 others for conspiring to murder, saying the incident was a "pre-planned conspiracy."
All of those convicted were
Muslims.
The judgement rested in part on the findings of the Nanavati-Shah Commission; however, Maulvi Umarji, presented by the commission as the chief conspirator, was cleared of all charges along with 62 others for insufficient evidence.
References
External links
Report of the Commission of Inquiry Consisting of Justice Nanavati and Justice Mehta
{{2002 Gujarat riots
2002 establishments in Gujarat
2002 Gujarat riots
Indian commissions and inquiries
Public inquiries in India