Rahul questioning: Sickulars, Congress must recall – Narendra Modi was grilled with 71 questions

 Narendra Modi was far away from Delhi, in Gujarat, as the state Chief Minister. People would do well to recall that Modi was subjected to long hours of questioning by a set of 71 questions by an SIT on the Gujarat riots of 2002.

The fiasco or theatrics on mere questioning of Rahul Gandhi is not only uncalled for, but the manner the Congress party has conducted itself also shows the dynasty still thinks they are invincible and above the law. The moral of the lesson is that the former Congress president should have submitted himself before the procedures of law.

For Modi, of course, the reprieve came after the questioning when the SIT, in its report submitted to a Magistrate Court in Ahmedabad, had said that there was “no prosecutable evidence” against Narendra Modi for abetting the 2002 riots.

Notably, the SIT was functioning at the directives of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court formed a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2009. It was headed by former CBI chief R K Raghavan.

Modi was subjected to questioning for two days, March 27-28, 2010, when UPA, under the mother-son duo of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, ran the show in the country.

The issue here is not the 2002 riots case that has been debated enough and could be debated yet again. Here the issue is whether the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi and incumbent interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi believes they all ought to be above the law.

What is ED supposed to do in such a case where things are being monitored by a court? Questioning is a minimum and almost a baby step in any investigation. If the ED officials do not do that, the court will easily

hold them guilty of dereliction of duty.

But the Congress leaders have taken different turns and twists. Incumbent chief ministers from various states left their respective constitutional obligations back home and parked themselves to stage a protest in Delhi.

Likes of Renuka Chowdhury thought she would prove her loyalty the best by pulling the collar of a uniformed cop! The arrogance of power need not be demonstrated like this.

The contrast is crystal clear. Narendra Modi had subjected himself before the law of the land.

Hundreds of BJP workers were possibly irked and sad, but no worker protested while the sitting Chief Minister of Gujarat was being questioned for nine hours.

There is yet another chapter regarding the SIT probe and the questioning of Modi.

SIT chief Raghavan later said he declined to ‘question’ Modi personally as allegations would surface that the Chief Minister and former CBI chief had struck a deal.

Raghavan instead asked another SIT member, Ashok Malhotra, to do the questioning.

This unusual step was later appreciated by amicus curiae Harish Salve, who told Raghavan, “….your presence would have vitiated Modi’s statement and would have robbed it of its credibility.”