Gulbarg Society riot case verdict likely on June 2

A special court in Ahmedabad is likely to pronounce on June 2 its order in Gulbarg Housing Society riot case in which former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri and 68 others were killed in 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.

Special judge P B Desai on Wednesday issued notices to lawyers concerned in the case asking them to remain present on June 2 when the judgement is likely to be pronounced.

“The judge ordered the clerk to issue notice to all advocates concerned to remain present in the court on June 2 when the judgement will be pronounced,” said lawyer S M Vora who appeared for the riots victims.

The court was earlier directed by the apex court to pronounce the judgement by May 31 after the trial concluded on September 22 last year.

The riots victims’ lawyer had argued during the trial that the massacre was a criminal conspiracy hatched by the accused to kill minority community members of the Gulbarg Society.

The defence had refuted the ‘conspiracy theory’ of the prosecution and claimed that the mob resorted to violence only after Eshan Jafri fired several rounds at them.

Defence lawyer Abhay Bhardwaj said a mob of around 1,500 had gathered on their own and not as a conspiracy.

338 witnesses testified during the trial of the case, which ran for over six years.

The Gulberg Society case is one of the nine cases of the 2002 Gujarat riots probed by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team.

There are 66 accused named by SIT in the Gulberg Society case of which nine are behind the bars for 14 years while others are out on bail.

69 persons lost their lives in Gulberg Society violence here on February 28, 2002 during the post-Godhra riots.

The incident had taken place a day after S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express train was burnt near Godhra train station in which 58 karsevaks from Ayodhya were killed.

Image used for representational purpose only.