Kodnani gets benefit of doubt

NARODA PATIYA RIOTS Gujarat HC acquits exBJP minister in violence that left 97 dead

The Gujarat high court on Friday acquitted former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Maya Kodnani and upheld the conviction of Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case, in which 97 people were killed.

A division bench of Justices Harsha Devani and AS Supehiya, while acquitting Kodnani, said she should be given the benefit of doubt due to inconsistency in statements of witnesses.

“Eleven witnesses gave different statements on Maya Kodnani’s presence at the location, there were contradictions,” said special public prosecutor Prashant Desai.

Upholding the conviction of Bajrangi, HC found him guilty of criminal conspiracy (IPC section 120B) along with two other convicts Prakash Rathod and Suresh Jhala.

A trial court had sentenced Bajrangi to life imprisonment till death. However, the HC reduced his sentence to 21-year rigorous imprisonment without remission.

The bench was giving its verdict on a set of appeals filed in the riot case.

The HC upheld the conviction of 12 of 29 people pronounced guilty on various charges by the trial court and acquitted the 17 others, including Kodnani.

The trial court had convicted a total of 32 people, of which one has died.

The HC also convicted three of the 29 people who were acquitted by the trial court. Their quantum of sentence will be announced at a later date.

The HC sentenced all the 12, whose conviction it upheld, to 21 years rigorous imprisonment without remission.

NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD:

Coming down heavily on the Gujarat government which had sought enhancement of sentence of convicts, the court said, “You just indulge in lip service”.

The state government had not opposed the release of the accused on bail but “now you are asking for enhancement of their sentence”, the judges said.

The killings in the Ahmedabad locality was one of the worst attacks of the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

On February 28 that year, 97 people from the Muslim community — mostly migrants from Karnataka and Maharashtra — were slaughtered by a mob of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal supporters. The locality with nearly 800 houses

was set on fire.

In August 2012, a special court for SIT cases had sentenced 32 people, including Kodnani, to life imprisonment. Kodnani, the Naroda MLA at the time, was handed a 28-year jail term.

The trial court had held that she was the mastermind of the violence in Naroda area.