Indian
court orders removal of Modi’s name
Gujarat
A local court in India’s Gujarat state has ordered the removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name from a lawsuit seeking damages for the murder of three British nationals during the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat state at that time and the applicant pleaded that he was “constitutionally, statutorily and personally liable for being in complete command of the state machinery” on whose watch the Gujarat riots of 2002 raged for days, reported The Wire.
Modi is accused of turning a blind eye to the riots in which some 2,500 people, mostly Muslims were killed.
In his order, the judge provided a summary of the allegations against Modi in the civil suit.
“The allegations were “general” and “vague” and that there is not a single averment showing [the] presence of [Modi] at the scene of offence… or his direct or indirect involvement in the alleged act or any specific role from which reasonable ground for malice or intentional acts or omissions can be found.