The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would not brook any further adjournments and would take up on April 13 the hearing of the appeal filed by Zakia Jafri, wife of slain former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by a special investigation team to Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

The SIT had earlier been directed by the apex court to look into Zakia’s allegation that Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister, some ministers and police officers were behind the larger conspiracy related to the Gulburg Housing Society riots in Ahmedabad in which more than 1,000 people were killed. Ehsan Jafri was among those killed.

A three-judge bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheswari and Krishna Murari on Tuesday asserted that the matter would be heard on April 13 after solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the SIT, opposed senior counsel Kapil Sibal who sought the adjournment on behalf of Zakia.

Sibal wanted the matter to be adjourned till the third week of April as several advocates are busy with the hearing of the Maratha reservation row before a five-judge constitution bench.

However, Rohatgi opposed the plea and insisted that the matter be heard on Tuesday itself. He submitted that the matter had been adjourned on a number of occasions.

Mehta supported Rohatgi but suggested that the matter be taken up at least next week.

Later the senior counsel mutually agreed that the hearing be adjourned to April 13 with no further adjournments.

The court passed the following order: “…By consent, list the matter on 13.04.2021. It is made clear that no request for further adjournment will be sought by either side on that day.”

The court was dealing with an appeal filed by Zakia challenging the judgment passed by Gujarat High Court on October 5, 2017, dismissing her plea challenging the SIT’s clean chit to Modi and the others.

In February last year, the court had adjourned the matter upon a request from Zakia’s counsel. However, the matter did not come up subsequently due to the pandemic and was listed on Tuesday for hearing.

Earlier on November 19, 2019, the matter had been adjourned upon a request from the counsel for the petitioner. At that time senior advocate Rohatgi, appearing for the Gujarat government, had complained that the petitioner deliberately wanted to drag the case by seeking frequent adjournments.