HC acquits Maya Kodnani in 2002 Gujarat riots case
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court acquitted on Friday former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Maya Kodnani and 17 other people for their involvement in the Naroda Patiya killings during the 2002 communal riots in the state.
The court said the testimonies of witnesses were not consistent to be treated as the basis to convict Kodnani on charges that she incited rioters in what eventually led to the deaths of 97 people at Naroda Patiya, a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad.
Of the 32 people convicted by a special court in 2012, the high court upheld the convictions of 13 people, including Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi.
Bajrangi’s jail term was reduced from life to 21 years. Kodnani had been sentenced to 28 years in prison.
“Eleven witnesses gave different statements on Maya Kodnani’s presence at the location, there were contradictions,” said special public prosecutor Prashant Desai. News agency PTI said the high court held the statements made by witnesses on her role as contradictory. No prosecution witness mentioned that she talked to them at the relevant time, the high court noted.
The division bench of the high court, comprising justices Harsha Devani and AS Supehia, said it found it “hazardous” to rely on contradictory statements by witnesses.
Kodnani was also given the benefit of doubt as she was made an accused for the first time in 2008 by the special investigation team (SIT), while her name did not figure in the original FIR, the high court said.
The ruling was criticised by victims of the riots, who said they will move the Supreme Court against the acquittal.
Bajrangi’s conviction as a conspirator ino the Naroda Patiya violence was upheld along with that of two others, Prakash Rathod and Suresh Jhala. It was the deadliest mass killing at a single location during the three days of rioting in Gujarat following the deaths of 59 Hindu pilgrims in a train fire. Official estimates put the death toll at around 1,100, with approximately two-thirds of the victims being from the minority community.
The opposition Congress in Gujarat accused the state government led by the BJP, which is in power since 1998, of destroying evidence to weaken the case against Kodnani and those acquitted.
“The BJP government has either destroyed the evidence or wilfully didn’t submit it in court,” said Paresh Dhanani, the Congress legislature party leader in the Gujarat assembly.