Ahmedabad, Dec 26 (IANS): As a local court upheld the closure of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report probing the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, state Chief Minister Narendra Modi said it represented the "triumph of truth".

"Truth alone triumphs," Modi tweeted after the verdict came.

"Truth by nature is self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear," Modi said, borrowing the words of Mahatma Gandhi.

In a major relief for the Gujarat chief minister, who is also Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 elections, a local court Thursday dismissed a petition by Zakia Jafri, widow of Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 riots, challenging the SIT's closure report.

That report had given a clean chit to Modi and 58 others in the communal violence.

The SIT was appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the riots.

In February last year, the SIT filed its closure report virtually exonerating all the accused, including Modi and others. That closure was challenged by Jafri through her lawyer Mihir Desai.