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| Naroda Patiya case: Kodnani walks free, 2 other CBI witnesses take a u-turn | | | Agencies
Six years after a trial court sentenced former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani to 28 years in jail, calling her the key instigator in Gujarat's worst communal massacre that left 97 Muslims dead in Ahmedabad's Naroda Patiya in 2002, the Gujarat High Court on Friday acquitted her citing lack of concrete evidence against her. A Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Harsha Devani and Justice A S Supehia acquitted Kodnani, stating there was an absence of sufficient proof of her presence at the crime scene where huge armed crowds went on a killing spree for hours in 2002. A SIT Court had in 2012 found it "beyond reasonable doubt" that Kodnani, a doctor by profession, was present at the spot of the crime, instigated mobs to attack Muslims and abetted the crime.
"In the record of this case, the witnesses have stated that all the disturbances were started -- and reached the peak, in fact -- after the arrival of Kodnani. It stands proved beyond all reasonable doubt that she was present and she participated in the crime on that day," the court had ruled in August 2012, sentencing Kodnani to 28 years in imprisonment.
Friday's acquittal of Kodnani, who became a minister after the riots, came against the backdrop of witnesses turning hostile, six judges recusing themselves from the hearing and the SIT deciding not to seek enhancement of her sentence stating that it did not have the Gujarat government's sanction for it. BJP President Amit Shah's testimony in the case in September 2017 was the last one and could have proved to be the much-needed alibi for Kodnani. He stated that he saw Kodnani in the Gujarat Assembly on 28 February, 2002 (the day of the massacre), first at 8.30 a.m. and then again at 11 a.m.
Naroda Patiya riot left 97 dead: The Naroda Patiya riot was one of the worst incidents that followed the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, in which 59 kar sevaks were killed. Around 58 people lost their lives when the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was allegedly torched at the Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002. Following the incident, on February 28, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal had declared a Gujarat Bandh. A total of 97 people were killed by rioters in Ahmedabad's Naroda Patiya area on this day.
Naroda Gam was one of the nine major 2002 communal riot cases that was investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team. |
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