Gujarat HC acquits former BJP minister, says she should be given 'benefit of doubt'; upholds conviction of Babu Bajrangi in the case, one of the worst episodes of post-Godhra violence
Maya Kodnani
The Gujarat High Court yesterday acquitted former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and upheld the conviction of ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case in which 97 people were killed by a mob.A division bench of Justices Harsha Devani and A S Supehiya, while acquitting Kodnani, said she should be given the benefit of doubt due to inconsistency in statements of witnesses. The trial court had described Kodnani as the "kingpin" of the Naroda Patiya riots, one of the worst episodes of the post-Godhra communal violence.
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Babu Bajrangi. Pics/PTI, AFP
The HC upheld the conviction of Bajrangi and found him guilty of criminal conspiracy (IPC section 120B) along with two other convicts Prakash Rathod and Suresh Jhala. The trial court had sentenced Bajrangi to life imprisonment till death. However, the HC yesterday reduced his sentence to 21-year rigorous imprisonment without remission.
Kodnani, who was a minister in the government of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is currently out on bail, while Bajrangi is in jail. 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 2002 massacre
The rioting took place on February 28, 2002, in the Naroda Patiaya area of Ahmedabad where a mob killed 97 people, most of them from a minority community. The massacre took place a day after the torching of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, which had triggered state-wide riots.
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