JUDGE HEARING 2002 NARODA GAM RIOTS CASE RETIRES

AHMEDABAD: Special SIT court judge P B Desai, who was hearing the 2002 Naroda Gam riots case, retired on Saturday. He had heard depositions of over 300 witnesses, and for the last three months he was hearing final arguments by the special investigation team lawyer which were about to end. Final arguments by the defence and victims' lawyers are yet to start. His retirement won't necessitate fresh examination of witnesses before a new judge, but the final arguments will have to be heard afresh, a prosecution lawyer said. Desai is the third judge to hear this post-Godhra riots case, related to the killing of 11 Muslims in the Naroda Gam area near here during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The riots took place on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident.