Godhra: Death sentence of 11 convicts commuted

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Monday commuted the death sentence of 11 convicts to rigorous life imprisonment, while up holding the life sentence of another 20 in the 2002 Godhra train burning case.

The high court observed that the state government and railways had failed to maintain law and order, and directed them to pay a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the kin of victims.

Coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express was torched on February 27, 2002 near the Godhra station, resulting in the death of 59 people, most of them ‘karsevaks’ returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The incident triggered communal riots across Gujarat, in which around 1,200 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

A division bench of Justice Anant S Dave and Justice GR Udhwani said in Monday’ s verdict that it was up holding the con- viction of the 11 persons whom the trial court had sentenced to death, but commuting their punishment to“rigorous life imprisonment ”. The court also up held the life sentence awarded by the special SIT court to 20 other convicts. While ordering the state and the railways to pay a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the kin of those killed in the Godhra incident, the HC observed that “the state has failed to maintain law and order, so has the railways”. Those injured in the inci- dent should be given compensation as per the disabilities they suffered, the court said.

The division bench also said that it regrets the delay in pronouncement of the judgment, as hearing on appeals had concluded much earlier.

The HC relied on the testimonies of injured witnesses, passengers, railway employees, Railway Protection Force personnel, two police men from God hr a, the Gujarat railway police and experts from forensic laboratories.