Sardarpura riots reaction to Godhra train carnage: Court

Delivering the much-awaited verdict in the Sardarpura riot case of 2002, the special court here on Tuesday convicted 31 and acquitted 42 of total 73 accused. They had been booked for attacking the house of Mehmood Shaikh, in which 33 innocent people were burnt to death. The convicts were awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs21,700 each.

But in what can be termed as significant, the special court declined the conspiracy theory behind the attack and held that the act was reaction to the Godhra train carnage. The prosecution as well as the advocates for the witnesses had argued that the attack on the house was planned in advance. The advocates had argued that the villagers had made preparations for attacking the house.

Most of the convicts were farmers of the village and some were youth who were then in the age group of 19-20. The list of the convicts also includes the then sarpanch of the village, Kanu Joyta Patel, and former sarpanch Kachara Patel. Two accused, Ambalal Patel and Mathur Patel, had affiliation with the saffron party.

While acquitting 42, the court of judge SC Srivastava said that of 42, there was no evidence against 11 and the others were given the benefit of doubt. The special public prosecutor had stated that the accused had been let of as the witnesses had failed to identify them in the court. Acquitted were allowed to go home after furnishing bond amount.

The court convicted the 31 for murder, along with the sections of damage to the house, criminal trespass, attacking with dangerous weapon, and causing grievous hurt to innocent people. Though no significant role was attributed to any of the accused, they were accused of being a part of an unlawful assembly which attacked the house and killed 31 innocent persons. The court has, while awarding punishment to the accused, also asked them to pay Rs50,000 each towards compensation to the victims.

While arguing for the quantum of punishment, special public prosecutor SC Shah had argued that this was an incident of heinous crime and the accused be awarded the maximum punishment. "Innocent kids and women were killed who choose to hide in the house to protect themselves from the furious mob. They had nothing to defend themselves from and just met with unfortunate fate. In such case, the court should award the accused maximum punishment to set an example in society," Shah had argued.

The advocate for witnesses, Yusuf Shaikh, demanded deterrent punishment to curb the virus of communal clashes in the state.

However, the advocate for the accused sought for mercy as the most of the accused had family to protect and many of them are in the golden period of their life. Rejecting the demand of the special public prosecutor for capital punishment, the special court awarded life imprisonment to all the 31 convicts of the case.