The Bombay high court on Thursday granted bail to a convict in the 2002 Best Bakery case of Gujarat on medical grounds.
The division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode directed the petitioner, an HIV-positive man (identity not to be disclosed) to submit a personal bond of Rs 5,000.
He is the first person in the case to be granted bail after an appeal was filed in the high court against the conviction.
Fourteen persons were killed inside Best Bakery in Vadodara during the post-Godhra communal riots of Gujarat in 2002. Of the 17 accused, nine were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Mumbai.
The high court on Thursday went through the medical report submitted by civil hospital, which states that the petitioner's `CD4 count' had gone down to 196, and HIV infection was at `stage 2', which requires constant medical attention.
"Considering the report, it will be appropriate to release him on bail," the court said.
The court has directed the petitioner to provide to the police his permanent address in Vadodara where he would be staying alongwith his contact number. Directing that he be released forthwith, the court also said that his condition would be reported to the nearest police station by his relatives once in two weeks.
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