AHMEDABAD: A Special SIT court on Thursday acquitted all the accused in the 2002 Naroda Gam massacre case. The riots broke out on February 28, 2002, during a bandh called to protest the burning of the Godhra train a day before. The train blaze killed 58 passengers travelling in Sabarmati Express Train Coach S-6. They were mostly kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya.
In the communal violence that followed, 11 Muslims were killed. The verdict comes following a 13-year trial.
The 69 suspects acquitted include former minister Maya Kodnani, Babu Bajrangi, and Jaideep Patel. Supporters were heard chanting "Jai Shri Ram" outside the court. after the verdict.
On August 26, 2008, the Supreme Court appointed a Special Inquiry Team (SIT) to conduct the investigation.
Maya Kodnani, a former minister from Gujarat and a BJP leader, and Babu Bajrangi, a leader of the Bajrang Dal, were two of the 86 defendants implicated in the case. Eighteen of the 86 accused have died in the course of the trial.
The trial began in 2010 and lasted almost 13 years. Six judges conducted the trial. The prosecution and defense cross-examined 187 and 57 witnesses, respectively.
On September 23, 2013, the testimony of Investigating Officer Praveen Mal began, with a two-year cross-examination. The concluding arguments were heard in the court of Special Judge PB Desai, who retired at the time.
Soon after, arguments were resumed before Judge MK Dave, who was also transferred as Principal District Judge three years ago. Arguments then started before Subhda Bakshi, a special court judge in the riot case, following his transfer. The arguments were concluded on April 5, 2023.
Amit Shah, who is currently the Union home minister, testified in Maya Kodnani's defence in September 2017.
During his deposition, Shah told the court that he met Kodnani in the state assembly in Gandhinagar around 8.30 am and subsequently at the Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad around 11 am to 11.30 am on February 28, 2002, the day when the carnage took place in Naroda. In the chargesheet, the SIT, however, alleged that Kodnani left the assembly at 8.40 am and reached Naroda Gam at around 9.30 am. The investigation team also claimed that signals from Kodnani’s mobile phone suggested that she was at the spot till 10.30 am. Both Shah and Kodnani were MLAs in the Narendra Modi-led state government in 2002. Kodnani had asked the court to call Shah in order to establish her alibi, according to which she was present at the Gujarat Assembly and then at the Sola Civil Hospital rather than at Naroda Gam, the scene of the slaughter.
The video of a sting operation conducted by journalist Ashish Khetan and the call logs of Kodnani, Bajrangi, and others during the relevant period were part of the prosecution's evidence.
The defendants faced charges under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to kill), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with lethal weapons), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), and 153 (provocation for riots), among others. The highest penalty for these offences is death.
Kodnani, a minister in Gujarat's Narendra Modi government, was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison in the Naroda Patiya riot case, in which 97 people were slaughtered. The Gujarat High Court later released her.
She had been charged with criminal conspiracy in addition to rioting, murder, and attempted murder in this case.