Ahmedabad: 68 suspects including BJP MLA Maya Kodnani and former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi who are accused of killing 11 members from the Muslim community in the 2002 Naroda Gam massacre will be present before a special court here in Gujarat, which is likely likely to pronounce its judgment on Thursday. Overall, 86 persons were declared as accused and 18 of them have died during the proceedings.
Charges framed against the accused under the Indian Penal Code sections are 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), and 153 (provocation for riots), among others.
The maximum punishment for these crimes is capital punishment. Special judge S K Baxi who heard the trial proceedings based on the charge sheet filed by the Special Investigation Agency (SIT) will assemble on Thursday to pronounce the verdict against 68 accused.
On Feb. 28, 2002, eleven persons were killed in communal violence in Naroda Gam area of Ahmedabad city. The violence that ensued in a bandh called to protest the Godhra train fire incident killing 58 passengers reported previous day. Mostly Karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed in the train fire.
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The massacre at Naroda Gam was one of the nine major 2002 communal riots cases investigated by the SIT and heard by special courts. In the Naroda Gam massacre, the prosecution examined 187 and defence 57 witnesses during the 13-year long trial that began in 2010. Six judges have presided over the trial, special prosecutor Suresh Shah said.
In September 2017, senior BJP leader (now Union home minister) Amit Shah appeared as a defence witness for Maya Kodnani. Kodnani, 67, had requested the court to summon him to prove her alibi that she was present in the Gujarat Assembly and later at the Sola Civil Hospital and not at Naroda Gam where the massacre took place.
A sting operation video - recorded by journalist Ashish Khetan as well as call details of Kodnani, Bajrangi and others during the relevant period were among those submitted as evidences by the prosecution. When the trial began, S H Vora presided as judge. He was later elevated to the Gujarat High Court. His three successors - Jyotsna Yagnik, K K Bhatt and P B Desai - retired during the trial.
Special judge M K Dave who succeeded Desai was transferred. "The trial (deposition of witnesses) concluded around four years ago. Arguments of the prosecution concluded and the defence was making its arguments when then special judge P B Desai retired. So arguments started afresh before judge Dave and later judge Baxi which delayed the proceedings," Suresh said.
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Kodnani had served as a minister in the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government at the time of riot. In the Naroda Patia riot case, she was convicted and sentenced to 28 years. 97 people were massacred in Naroda Patia. The Gujarat High Court later discharged her.
