New Delhi: The Supreme Court has disposed of a petition filed by the National Human Rights Commission 15 years ago which asked the court to transfer cases pertaining to the 2002 Gujarat riots to outside the state. The latest order, Indian Express reported, was received by the special riot court hearing the Naroda Gam case two weeks ago, and said that the apex court will no longer be monitoring riots cases.In 2008, in an order on the same case, the Supreme Court had said that a Special Investigation Team should be formed to probe nine major riot cases, with the Supreme Court’s supervision and monitoring.The court has now told the SIT to take the Naroda Gam case – the only one of the nine cases that is yet to be closed – to its logical end, and said that the special court hearing the case has till October 16, 2018 to finish the trial.More than 80 people were convicted in the eight cases that have concluded.The newspaper quoted the Supreme Court as saying while it was disposing of the petition, “After scanning through all the orders which have been passed from time to time, we feel that the purpose of this petition stands served and no further orders are required.” It added that “if at any time interference of this court is required, either party would be permitted to file IA (Interlocutory Application).”Since the authorities in Gujarat were accused of mishandling the cases after 2002, the NHRC took suo motu action and filed an unprecedented writ petition before the apex court following the acquittal of all the accused in the Best Bakery murders of Vadodara. One of NHRC’s main pleas was that the cases be heard outside Gujarat. The Best Bakery case was later re-tried in Mumbai, and all of the accused were convicted.From 2003 to July 23, 2018, the apex court passed more than 80 orders on the NHRC’s petition, Indian Express reported. In the March 26, 2008 order, the bench said, “communal harmony is the hallmark of a democracy. No religion teaches hatred. If in the name of religion, people are killed, that is essentially a slur and blot on the society governed by rule of law. The Constitution of India in its preamble refers to secularism. Religious fanatics really do not belong to any religion. They are no better than terrorists who kill innocent people for no rhyme or reason in a society which as noted above is governed by rule of law. These are cases where there is an element of communal disharmony, which is not to be countenanced.”