The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief Ashok Singhal on a petition alleging that the Mumbai police did not accept a complaint against them for making inflammatory speeches.

A bench comprising Justice R C Lahoti and Justice Brijesh Kumar also issued notices to the Centre, the Maharashtra and Gujarat governments and the Mumbai police.

The petitioners, who included noted personalities like B G Verghese, Kuldip Nayar and Aleque Padamsee, referred to the Godhra carnage and the riots that followed in Gujarat.

They alleged that Modi, during a speech at Becharaji on September 9, 2002, made certain statements 'that need to be viewed as a grave threat to the peace, unity and integrity of India'.

Singhal had made statements at a public gathering at Shivala Bhaiyan Temple in Amritsar 'wherein instead of condemning the said carnage, he praised the incidents and described them as successful experiments', the petitioners said.

To restrain Modi and Singhal, complaints were filed at the Azad Maidan Police Station in Mumbai under sections 153A, 153B and 505 of the Indian Penal Code, the petitioners said.

The counsel for the petitioners, Kapil Sibal, contended before the bench that 'the petitioners just want to know why their complaint would not be registered by police?'

The petitioners also said that their letters to the Union home ministry in this regard evoked no response.