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Friday, April 20, 2018

2002 Naroda Patiya massacre case - Gujarat High Court Acquits former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani

The Gujarat High Court on Friday April 20,2018 acquitted former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani in Naroda Patiya massacre case.

 Ninety-seven people had been killed at Naroda Patiya in Ahmedabad during post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.

The high court pronounced its verdict saying that the charges against Maya Kodnani could not be established.

Maya Kodnani had previously been convicted by a trial court and awarded 28-year life sentence.

The High Court also acquitted Ganpat Nidawal and Vikram Chhara while commuting the life sentence of Babu Bajrangi to 21 years of imprisonment.

Naroda Patiya massacre happened on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra Train incident in which 57 karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed in the Sabarmati Express. Naroda Patiya, a Muslim dominated locality, was home to around 2,000 migrant workers particularly from Karnataka and Maharashtra at the time of the incident.

According to the chargesheet against Maya Kodnani, she along with some other accused instigated a mob to kill the Muslims in Naroda Patiya to take revenge of Godhra train incident.

Different reports put different numbers for the attacking mob - from 1,500 to 5,000. Eleven witnesses gave statements saying that they saw Maya Kodnani at the site of massacre inciting the mob at Naroda Patiya.

The case was initially probed by the Gujarat Police which charged 46 people for the Naroda Patiya massacre. The special court found the case unreliable. The probe took a turn in 2008 when the Supreme Court ordered an SIT (special investigation team) probe.

The SIT submitted its report charging 61 people under various IPC Sections. The special trial court convicted 32 of the accused including Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi. Other 29 accused were discharged for lack of evidence.

The trial court judgment said, "Accused 37 (Kodnani) has been proved to be the kingpin of the entire communal riot and one of the principal conspirators who has actively instigated the rioters and has abetted them to form unlawful assembly to execute the conspiracy hatched under her leadership with other co-conspirators."

The judgment was challenged in the Gujarat High Court by Maya Kodnani and others convicted by the trial court. The counsel for Maya Kodnani argued that the witnesses who claimed to have seen her at the scene of the massacre contradicted each other on many counts.

Maya Kodnani got bail in Naroda Patiya case in July 2014 from the Gujarat High Court on the ground that she suffered from "intestinal tuberculosis with IBS [irritable bowel syndrome] and gastro reflux disease and with severe weight loss".

A division bench of Gujarat High Court Justices Harsha Devani and AS Supehiya had reserved the verdict in August last year. The order was pronounced today, more than 16 years after the largest single case of mass murder during 2002 Gujarat riots, holding Maya Kodnani not guilty in Naroda Patiya massacre case.

This case is likely to have bearing on another trial - Naroda Gam case. Located barely 2 km from Naroda Patiya, Naroda Gam saw 11 people being killed by a mob. The Supreme Court appointed SIT has made 86 people including Maya Kodnani accused in the Naroda Gam case.

Four of the accused have died during the trial, which concluded on Tuesday, April 17. All other accused are out on bail in the case. Verdict of the special court in Naroda Gam riot case is expected in mid-May

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