Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2010 - 02:47 am:

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Gandhinagar, March 27: The first question was apparently asked by Narendra Modi as he arrived sharp at noon: "May I sit down?"

For the next five-and-a-half hours, he faced 60-odd queries from his lone interrogator, becoming the country's first chief minister to be questioned by law enforcers in connection with riots.

Modi then took a break to return to his bungalow, and then turned up at 9pm for a second spell of questioning that continued past 1am on Sunday.

Sources in the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2002 Gujarat riots, before which the chief minister appeared today after days of suspense, said some of the questions he was asked were:

Had he held a meeting of top officials on February 27, the day of the Godhra train fire, and instructed the police to go slow against rioters for three days?

Had he instructed any of his ministers to sit in the police control room in Ahmedabad while the riots were taking place?

Did the chief minister's office receive a phone call from former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri shortly before he was killed with 68 others at the Gulbarg Society residential complex?

SIT sources claimed that Ahsan's widow Zakia had provided phone records showing Modi had personally taken a call from her husband, who died waiting for help that never arrived. It was a petition from Zakia, forwarded by the apex court to the SIT, that led to the probe team's notice to the chief minister.

Modi emerged from the first session at 5.30pm to claim he had answered all the questions: "Vistar se batcheet ki (we spoke in detail)."

He claimed he had proved himself a law-abiding citizen and given a "kara jawab (fitting reply)" to critics who doubted he would appear before the SIT.

"I have given a resounding reply to vested interests. I have always said that nobody is above the law," Modi said.

"As a common man, a CM, I am bound by the Indian Constitution and law," Modi added. The probe was impartial, he said and cited as proof the absence of any "Gujarat police officer" at the questioning.

Neither SIT chief R.K. Raghavan nor any of the team's Gujarat-cadre IPS officers were present. SIT second-in-command A.K. Malhotra, who interrogated Modi, is a retired officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Until 10am, though, nobody had a clue if Modi would turn up, prompting some journalists to gather outside the chief minister's bungalow and others to wait at the SIT office, located in the old secretariat. The first hint came when a bomb-disposal squad arrived to scan the office.

Modi came alone, wearing white kurta-pyjamas, and greeted journalists with folded hands after getting off his car.

Later, leaving for the break, he said he would be back around 9pm. "I have told him (the questioner), 'Ask me everything today, let it be complete today'."

He said he wanted to give the SIT some time to do its "homework" before questioning resumed.

Modi used the break to freshen up at home and consult party colleague and legal adviser Arun Jaitley and lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani.

Sources said the chief minister had handed Malhotra a 40-page draft prepared by Jaitley and Jethmalani. The SIT, which recorded and video-graphed Modi's statement, will submit it to the apex court.

If the court thinks an FIR against Modi is warranted, it can order one. If that happens, the chief minister will be under pressure to step down. Today, however, the BJP was claiming a "political victory".

"By appearing before the SIT, (Modi) has demolished all mischievous speculation and scored a political victory. This graceful action vindicates the BJP stand that (Modi) has the highest respect for the law of the land," spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

The Congress was dismissive. "It is the duty of every citizen to abide by the judicial process�. There is nothing extraordinary about it," general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said.

Others claimed to spot a different significance. "Today is an important day for democracy and the rule of law, when a sitting chief minister has been forced to appear before an inquiry team after various attempts to block justice," said social activist and Modi-baiter Teesta Setalvad.

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