Godhra case: Who’ll pay for the acquitted's lost years?

When as many as 63 of the 94 accused in the Godhra train burning carnage case were acquitted on Tuesday by a special court, the oft-repeated adage 'justice delayed is justice denied' hit society with a renewed force.

Even as it is not clear whether there was no evidence against these people or they were given the benefit of doubt, what is certainly coming to the fore is that nine precious years of their life have been spent behind the bars, their careers have been ruined, families scattered, and they will have to carry with them social stigma for the rest of their life.

Social activists squarely put the blame on the Modi government whose "saffron agenda targeted these innocent people, particularly because they belong to the minority community". But in this convenient blame game, is there a deep apathy amidst the muted response of our society?

For a perspective, as many as 567 years (63 x 9) have been collectively spent inside the jail.

"Above all, what happens now to the 63 acquitted? Who will bring back the nine years to them? Will they be compensated by the state?" social activist and director of Prashant, Father Cedric Prakash cried in a statement released soon after the verdict was announced on Tuesday. More importantly, can anything compensate for the life they have lost?

Terming the verdict as a "miscarriage of justice", activist Sheba George of Sahr Waru said, "Even though 31 have been damned in the so-called conspiracy of train burning, what about the 63 acquitted and the lost nine years of their lives."

Seasoned lawyer and human rights activist Girish Patel too reflects on this loss and ponders over the efficacy of the legal system. "The case has been delayed a lot and people who are now acquitted have already spent nine years of their life in the jail.

Even the apex court is also responsible for the delay as in such situation when the accused were all in jail they could have been given priority to the hearing, as the apex court had stayed the hearing on the case for a long period," he said.

He adds that the role of the state government is "very dubious as being discriminatory towards the accused". He feels that the conspiracy theory in the case is "hard to believe as it was more of a spontaneous reaction.”