A designated court today deferred to August 29 the pronouncement of judgement in the Naroda Patiya communal riot case of 2002, in which a former BJP Minister is one of the 61 accused.
Special Judge Jyotsna Yagnik, who had earlier given a tentative date of today for delivering the much-awaited judgement put off the verdict by two months without assigning any reason.
Naroda Patiya, a locality in the city, saw one of the worst riots in the wake of Sabarmati Express burning incident near Godhra.
Ninety-seven members of a minority community were massacred in the area by a violent mob on February 28 2002, a day after the Godhra train fire.
The 61 accused in the case include former Minister in Narendra Modi Government and Naroda MLA Maya Kodnani, ex-VHPleader Babu Bajrangi, local BJP leaders Bipin Panchal, KishanKorani, Ashok Sindhi and Raju Chaumal.
The rioting occurred during a bandh called by the VishwaHindu Parishad (VHP) to protest against the torching ofSabarmati Express.
A rampaging mob armed with lethal weapons and allegedlyled by Kodnani and others had gathered at Naroda Patiya andkilled 97 people. Thirty-three others were wounded.
The trial began in August 2009 and charges were framedagainst 62 accused. However, one of them - Vijay Shetty, diedduring the trial.
A total of 327 people, including, eyewitnesses, victims,doctors, police and Government officials, forensic experts andjournalists like Ashish Khetan, who conducted a TV stingoperation on the accused, were examined by the court.
After the incident, 46 persons were arrested by Gujaratpolice. Twenty-four more persons were rounded up after theprobe was handed over to the Supreme Court-appointed SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) in 2008.
However, before the charges could be framed or trialcould start, six persons died, while two others - Mohan Nepaliand Tejas Pathak - jumped bail and are still absconding.
The case was investigated by eight Investigating Officersover the past decade, the latest being Himanshu Shukla of theSIT.
All accused have been charged under IPC Sections 302(murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323, 324, 325 (causinggrievous hurt with deadly weapons) and 367 (kidnapping inorder to cause grievous hurt).
The case is one of nine probed by the SIT, which alsoinquired into the Godhra train fire, in which 59 persons,mostly karsevaks, were burnt alive.