Justice Nanavati, ex-SC judge who probed Godhra, anti-Sikh riots, passes away at 86
Ahmedabad, Dec 18: Former Supreme Court judge Justice Girish Thakorlal Nanavati, who headed commissions which inquired into the 1984 anti-Sikh and 2002 post-Godhra riots, passed away here on Saturday.
Nanavati, 86, passed away a cardiac failure at 1:15 pm at his residence here, family members said.
The commission headed by him had given a clean chit to the then Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government with regard to the post-Godhra communal riots.
Nanavati, born on February 17, 1935, was enrolled as an advocate in the Bombay High Court on February 11, 1958.
He was appointed as permanent Judge of the Gujarat High Court from July 19, 1979, and transferred to the Orissa High Court on December 14, 1993.
Nanavati was appointed as the chief justice of the Orissa High Court with effect from January 31, 1994.
He was transferred as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court from September 28, 1994. Nanavati was appointed as judge of the Supreme Court with effect from March 6, 1995, and retired on February 16, 2000.
After the burning of two coaches of Sabarmati Express at Godhra in which 59 'karsevaks' died and the subsequent riots in February 2002, then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi set up a one-member commission of Justice Nanavati for conducting inquiry.
It was to probe both the train burning incident and the subsequent communal violence in which over 1,000 people, mostly from the minority community, died.
The commission was later reconstituted with Nanavati as its chairman and former Gujarat High Court judge K G Shah as a member. After Justice Shah died, former HC judge Akshay Mehta took his place.
The commission submitted its report in 2014 when Anandiben Patel was chief minister. But it was tabled before the Gujarat Assembly in December 2019, when Vijay Rupani was chief minister.
The commission gave a clean chit to the then Modi-led state government with regard to the riots.
The riots were "not a pre-planned conspiracy or orchestrated violence," and there was no substance in allegation that state authorities turned a blind eye to the violence, the commission said.
Not did it find any evidence against "any religious or political party or organisations as such," though local members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal took part in the incidents which happened in respective localities, the commission said.
Earlier, Justice Nanavati was appointed to a one-man commission to investigate the 1984 anti-Sikh riots by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in May 2000.
The commission said in its report, submitted in 2005, that there was "credible evidence" against then Union minister and Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, and also pointed to probable roles of various other Congress leaders.
The riots had broken out following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
