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.