All 67 accused acquitted in Naroda massacre case

A special court in Ahmedabad on Thursday acquitted all accused in the Naroda Gam massacre case where 11 Muslims were killed, bringing the curtain down on the trial in one of the worst episodes of violence in the 2002 Gujarat riots that spanned two decades.

The special investigation team (SIT) court pronounced a one-line verdict letting off all 67 accused in the case – another 18 were charged but died during the course of the trial – including former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Jaydeep Patel.

“The court today pronounced a one-line verdict saying that all the accused have been acquitted of the charges against them. While 18 persons died during the course of the trial, one person was discharged in 2009 due to mistaken identity. The remaining 67 accused have been acquitted today,” special public prosecutor Gaurang Vyas said.

“We will seek a copy of the order tomorrow and after studying it we will decide about appealing before a higher court,” he added.

On February 28, 2002, 11 Muslims were killed as communal violence rocked the Naroda Gam area of Ahmedabad city, a day after 58 passengers on board the Sabarmati Express were charred to death when the train was set on fire in Godhra. In 2008, a Supreme Court-instituted SIT filed a charge sheet against 86 people, booking them under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), and 153 (provocation for riots), among others.

The verdict was delivered amid tight security with police cordoning the Bhadra Civil and Sessions Court compound area with barricades. The proceedings were held in-camera with no live telecast or journalist being allowed inside the court. The verdict by special judge Shubhada Baxi was pronounced around 5.30pm, and was welcomed outside the court by chants of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai” by the relatives of those who were acquitted.

“This is a black day for us. We have waited for 21 years to get justice. The accused were named in the SIT report. So, what does the verdict say about the SIT investigation? I fail to understand how everyone was set free,” said 50-year-old Imtiaz Qureshi, one of the prime witnesses in the case.

This is the second major case in which Kodnani has received a reprieve. A former minister, she was convicted in the Naroda Patiya case, where 97 Muslims were killed, by a lower court in 2012 and sentenced to life in jail, but acquitted by the Gujarat high court in 2018. The Naroda Patiya massacre occurred 3km away from Naroda Gam. Bajrangi’s conviction in that case was upheld by the high court.

“I am very happy with the verdict. It is a historic verdict. My faith in the judiciary has strengthened. The April 20 date is very important for me. For it was on this date in 2018 that the high court acquitted me in the Naroda Patiya case and today on the same date I have been acquitted in Naroda Gam case,” Kodnani said over the phone.

The Naroda Gam massacre was one of the nine major 2002 communal riots cases investigated by the SIT and heard by special courts. The prosecution and defence examined 187 and 57 witnesses respectively during the trial that started in 2010 and went on for nearly 13 years. Seven judges heard this case at different stages.

The 11 people killed in Naroda Gam included six members of a single family, Qureshi said. “The rioters had set their house on fire and a newly married woman in the family was stabbed while she was trying to escape. I saved her and she later got settled in some other place,” he said. Another family of three members were killed in the violence. “I saw an elderly couple and their granddaughter being burnt alive. The couple had lost their son earlier and they were taking care of the granddaughter. We lived in the same neighbourhood. I did not expect the court to release all the convicts,” he added.

Mohammad Malik, another prime witness in the case, said they still have faith in the judiciary and will challenge the verdict. “I have seen everything which happened that day with my own eyes. It was a conspiracy. We will study the court order and take legal advice for challenging it in a higher court. We have not lost hope,” said Malik, who works in the social sector.

The defence witnesses included Union home minister Amit Shah, who appeared as a witness for Kodnani to establish her alibi that she was at the Sola Civil Hospital on the morning of February 28, 2002. The prosecution witnesses had claimed she was at the Naroda Gam along with Patel at that time. In 2017, Shah told the court he saw Kodnani in the Gujarat Assembly around 8:30am and at Sola civil hospital around 11:15am on the day the violence took place.