comScore SC to hear Godhra riots case convicts appeals on Feb 13

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Vibes Of India
Vibes Of India

SC to hear Godhra riots case convicts appeals on Feb 13

|Gujarat | Updated: January 17, 2025 15:10

The Supreme Court has set February 13 as the date to hear appeals filed by the Gujarat government, and several convicts who were involved in the 2002 Godhra train burning case.A bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar ruled out further adjournments during the next hearing.

The Supreme Court received several appeals, contesting the Gujarat High Court’s October 2017 ruling. The High Court upheld numerous convictions while commuting the death sentences of 11 individuals to life imprisonment. In law, commutation means reducing the punishment for a crime. On getting a commutation, a jailed person’s original sentence, let’s assume ten years in prison, might be reduced to five years.

A lawyer for one of the convicts argued during Thursday’s meeting that no substantial evidence had been presented in the case. Justice Maheshwari, however, reiterated the court’s stance against further delays, observing that the matter had been postponed several times over the past year.

The lawyer also pointed out that remission pleas filed by some convicts remain pending. In response, the bench clarified that the Chief Justice’s office had ruled that criminal appeals and remission cases should not be heard together.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, representing one of the convicts, argued that the Gujarat government’s appeal against the commutation of death sentences should be addressed first. He stressed the need to confirm the convicts’ guilt before deliberating on their sentences, especially in view of the 22-year delay since the incident.

The bench ultimately deferred the hearing to February 13 after lawyers for the convicts requested more time.

In earlier proceedings, it was revealed that the trial court had sentenced 11 individuals to death and 20 others to life imprisonment.

The Gujarat High Court later upheld the convictions of 31 individuals but reduced the death sentences to life imprisonment for 11 convicts. While the Gujarat government is appealing the commutations, several convicts are challenging their convictions upheld by the High Court.

The case stems from the shocking events of February 27, 2002, when the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire in Godhra, Gujarat, resulting in the deaths of 59 people. . The victims included 27 women and 10 children. Injuries were suffered by another 48 passengers, triggering widespread riots across the state.

The Commission, comprising Justice G T Nanavati and Justice KG Shah, in its report submitted that most of the 59 people killed were kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

The riots continued for two-three months. The Centre in 2005 informed Rajya Sabha as many as 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims died in the riots. Two hundred and twenty-three people were reported missing. Tens of thousands were rendered homeless. The details were later published on the behest of the National Human Rights Commission.

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