NEW DELHI: Mumbai sessions Judge Abhay Thipsay's judgment convicting nine accused in burning 14 persons alive in Vadodra's Best Bakery owned by Zaheera Sheikh's father four years ago confirms the SC’s critical observations against Chief Minister Narender Kumar Modi government.
A bench of Doraiswamy Raju and Arijit Pasayat had ordered the retrial by a Mumbai court as it found that all the accused had been acquitted by a Vadodra fast track court that had only hostile witnesses to depose and state managed prosecutors who showed their indifference.
“The modern day 'Neros' were looking elsewhere when Best Bakery and innocent women and children were burning,” the judges said. “Those who are responsible for protecting life and property and ensuring that investigation is fair seem to have shown no anxiety. A large number of people had lost their lives. Whether the accused were really assailants or not could have been established by a fair and impartial investigation,” the judges added.
