Guj BJP calls SC verdict on Zakia Jafri's plea `victory of truth', blames Cong for `conspiracy' to frame Modi

Welcoming the Supreme Court's verdict on Zakia Jafri's petition as a ''victory of truth'', Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil on Friday said the petition was an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's detractors to malign his image.

Congress tried to frame Modi in riot cases as part of a political conspiracy despite the fact that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had given him a clean chit, he alleged.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed Zakia Jafri's plea alleging a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat. The court upheld the SIT's clean chit to then chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others.

Zakia, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots, had challenged the SIT's closure report.

''In its judgment, the Supreme Court has said that the case was intentionally kept alive for 16 years due to some vested interests, and appropriate action should be taken against those who are involved in the misuse of legal process,'' said Paatil in a statement.

''The judgement is the victory of truth as the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to Modi today by rejecting the petition. Congress and other Modi opponents have once again failed to implicate the PM in false cases. The entire nation saw how low Congress can stoop to acquire power,'' the BJP leader added.

State BJP general secretary Rajni Patel said Modi's opponents and Congress wanted to stop his political rise.

''Anti-Modi and anti-Gujarat people have been trying to stop Modi and Gujarat's progress for a long time. Since Congress had also received a hint that Modi would form government at the Centre, it also joined those elements to stop Modi. The SC noticed that the case was intentionally kept alive'' said Patel.