Justice (retired) GT Nanavati, who chaired committees investigating the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, died on Saturday morning at his Ahmedabad home. He was 86 years old when he died.
Justice Nanavati will be cremated in the Thaltej crematorium about 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association.
In its final report, Justice Nanavati’s commission, which was appointed to investigate the Godhra train burning and subsequent riots in Gujarat that killed nearly 1,200 people, gave a clean chit to now-Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers, as well as the police, the BJP, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and the Bajrang Dal. During the proceedings, the commission did not summon Gujarat’s then-CM, Narendra Modi.
In 1958, Justice Nanavati became a member of the Government Pleaders’ Panel and enrolled as an advocate in the Bombay High Court. In July 1979, he was appointed as a permanent judge in the Gujarat High Court, and in 1993, he was transferred to the Orissa High Court.
In January 1994, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, then in September 1994, he was transferred to the Karnataka High Court. In March 1995, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of India as a judge, and he retired as a judge in 2000.
