"If FIR has not been filed against the chief minister of the state for the last 12 years, how do you hold him guilty...Who is going to hang him," senior party leader Kapil Sibal told reporters here.
Sibal felt the statement given by Modi to an Urdu daily was made keeping the forthcoming Gujarat elections in mind.
"I was surprised to see the statement because you have to follow a procedure before being proved guilty...The statement has been given keeping the Gujarat elections in mind. The reality is justice was not delivered in this (1992 riots) case," he said.
Holding that there is no dearth of evidence in the matter, Sibal said Modi must, in the first place, make a statement that "I and no other agency will raise an objection if an FIR is lodged against me in any police station in Gujarat".
He regretted the fact that no FIR could be lodged against him despite the best efforts of the civil society groups.
Referring to a Supreme Court ruling, he said whenever a statement is made for the commission of a cognisable offence, FIR is mandatory. "But it does not seem to be mandatory in Modi's case because civil society has been fighting for this...For an FIR so that an investigation could start," he said.