A special fast-track court on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to 31 persons convicted in a 2002 post-Godhra riot case, in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive at Sardarpura village of Gujarat’s Mehsana district.
Of the total 73 accused, the court acquitted 42 — of whom 11 were freed for lack of evidence and 31 given the benefit of the doubt.
Principal district and sessions judge S.C. Srivastva, pronouncing verdict, also directed the 31 convicts to deposit `50,000 each, which will be paid as compensation to victims’ families.
The convicts were also awarded jail terms ranging from three months to 10 years under various IPC sections. The sentences will run concurrently.
“This is a historic success. Never before in the history of the trial of communal riot cases in the country have so many people been sentenced. It hadn’t happened in Bhagalpur, or even in the Best Bakery case,” said former DGP R.B. Sreekumar, who is fighting for the riot victims.
This is the first post-Godhra riot case probed by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team in which a verdict has been pronounced.
“It is a very satisfying verdict, I am happy with it, it’s the result of hard work put in by my officers. I don’t know if it’s the biggest-ever conviction in a riot case, but 31 people convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in a riot case is a sizeable number,” said SIT chief R.K. Raghavan.
Asked if the SIT would challenge the acquittals, Mr Raghavan said: “We’ll be examining the text of the order before taking a decision.” — PTI