Landmark judgment in the Naroda-Patiya riots, India

Former Gujarat minister and senior BJP leader Mayaben Kodnani arrives at a special court in Ahmedabad, India, Friday.

AHMEDABAD: The special fast track court in Ahmedabad on Friday sentenced all 31 convicts in the Naroda-Patiya massacre case to life imprisonment for varying periods. The former Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA in Gujarat, Mayaben Kodnani, was ordered to serve 28 years in jail.

Another high-profile convict, the former State president of the Bajrang Dal, Babu Bajrangi, considered the most brutal during the attack on Muslims in the Naroda-Patiya locality here, has been ordered to spend the remaining part of his life in prison — till his natural death — while seven others, including Suresh Chhara, whose wife is a Muslim, have been sentenced to 31 years.

It is perhaps for the first time that sentences pronounced under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Bombay Police Act would not run concurrently for any of the 31 convicts.

Pronouncing the quantum of punishment, special court judge Jyotsna Yagnik, who on Wednesday held 32 persons guilty and acquitted 29 others, said all the 31 convicts would serve 10 years in jail under IPC Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), after which their sentences of life imprisonment of varying periods would begin. Dr. Kodnani, a practising gynaecologist who also runs a hospital, has been sentenced to 18 years of life imprisonment — effectively 28 years in jail.

The Naroda-Patiya massacre was the most gruesome of all post-Godhra violent incidents, claiming the highest number of casualties. On February 28, 2002, when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad called a State-wide bandh to condemn the Godhra train carnage which took place the previous day, a 5,000-strong mob, allegedly instigated by the BJP and the Bajrang Dal, attacked the members of the minority community, burning many of them alive and throwing their bodies into a dry well. Many women were allegedly molested and raped before being killed, and their bodies hurled into the fire. Over 30 others were injured. The police recovered 94 bodies and three others were reported missing, but were declared dead later.

Full Text: 28 years for Kodnani, Bajrangi to spend entire life in prison

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3844297.ece

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