There is a mixed reaction to the Naroda Patia verdict which was delivered on Wednesday in the special court in Ahmedabad, says Rigvedita Mahurkar.
The Gujarat high court on Tuesday granted temporary bail to Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Babu Bajrangi, serving life sentence in the 2002 Naroda Patia massacre case, to undergo treatment for an eye ailment.
A single judge bench of the Gujarat high court on Tuesday recused itself from hearing a plea by former state minister Maya Kodnani, convicted in the 2002 Naroda Patia riot case, seeking regular bail on the ground of her ill-health.
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday issued notice to state minister Maya Kodnani on an application filed by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team for cancellation of her anticipatory bail in the 2002 Naroda Patia riot case.
The appointment of Justice Akshay Mehta to the Nanavati Commission has sparked off a controversy after the Jan Sangharsh Manch decided not to participate in its proceedings."Allegations were made against Justice Mehta in a sting operation `Kalank' of Tehelka and a TV channel," advocate Mukul Sinha, who represents a section of riot victims, said. He is the same judge whom Babu Bajrangi, the main accused in the Naroda Patia case, referred to as apna admi in the Tehelka tapes.
The five-member team headed by former CBI chief R K Raghavan spent almost an entire morning visiting the sites, sources in the police department said. The team, which include former director general of police of Uttar Pradesh C D Sathpathy and three IPS officers from Gujarat -- Geeta Johri, Shivanand Jha and Ashish Bhatia -- had an extensive meeting at Meghaninagar police station after visiting the contentious sites, police sources said.
The Centre, in its affidavit filed in the apex court on Sunday, has also said that trial of these cases should be held outside Gujarat.
The Special Investigation Team probing post-Godhra riots cases on Monday declared Gujarat Minister of State for Higher Education Mayaben Kodanani as an absconder in the Naroda Patia riot case."We have issued her a summon on January 29 and 31, but she didn't turn up," a senior official in SIT, who is investigating the case, told PTI. Kodanani is accused in the Naroda Patia riot case as well as the Naroda Gam riot case which the SIT is probing.
Advocate Mukul Sinha of JSM, representing a section of riot victims, said that Justice Mehta, who was appointed to the riot panel in place of late Justice K G Shah, had granted bail to Babu Bajrangi by his order dated October 19, 2002."The interesting thing in Justice Mehta's order is that it does not cite any reason for granting bail to a prime accused and two others in the Naroda Patia case," said Sinha.
Where does one find a man who shows no bitterness or animosity towards Hindus, even after a frenzied Hindu mob burnt his house down?, Jyoti Punwani asks in this tribute to a truly extraordinary Indian.
Travelling across tribal Dahod to an about-to-be-born township near Ahmedabad, Sheela Bhatt examines the 'Modi effect' and how it will play out in the polls in the prime ministerial candidate's home state.Travelling across tribal Dahod to an about-to-be-born-township near Ahmedabad, Sheela Bhatt examines the 'Modi effect' and how it will play out at the polls on the prime ministerial candidate's home state.