Name: Naroda Patiya: 31 people, BJP MLA to be sentenced
Uploaded: 2012-08-31T07:14:51+05:30
Description: Former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi are among the 32 people convicted in the 2002 massacre.

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Ahmedabad: A special court will pronounce the quantum of punishment for 32 convicts in the 2002 post-Godhra Naroda Patiya riots case on Friday in Ahmedabad. BJP MLA and former minister in the Narendra Modi government Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi are among the 32 people convicted by a special court in the Naroda Patiya riots case on Wednesday, in which, 97 people belonging to the minority community were killed. 
 
Special court judge Jyotsana Yagnik convicted them on charges of conspiracy and murder in the case, even as 29 other accused were acquitted. 
 
Kodnani, a three-time MLA from Naroda area, who was considered to be close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is the first woman and first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case. 
 
Kodnani and Bajrangi were held guilty under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of India Penal Code (IPC) and the prosecution sought the maximum punishment of death sentence for all the convicts. The sections under which Kodnani and Bajrangi have been convicted carry the minimum sentence of life term and the maximum is death. 
 
Knodnani's conviction could prove to be an albatross around Modi's neck as social activists and his opponents are likely to pounce upon the judgement and claim that Gujarat riots took place because of active support from the state government. 
 
On Wednesday, during the arguments on the quantum of sentence, lawyers of Kodnani and other convicts had sought leniency from the court. 
 
Kodnani was the minister of women and child development in the Narendra Modi government but was forced to resign after a case was lodged against her in the Naroda Patiya massacre of 2002. 
 
The Naroda Patiya massacre is the largest single case of mass murder during the 2002 Gujarat riots that broke out following the Sabarmati Express train carnage near Godhra station. The case has been probed by a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigating Team (SIT). 
 
As many as 327 witnesses, comprising eye witnesses, victims, doctors, police personnel, government officials, forensic experts and journalists including Ashish Khetan, who conducted a TV sting operation on the accused, were examined by the court. 
 
Initially, 46 people were arrested by the Gujarat Police, whereas 24 more people were apprehended after the probe was handed over to the SIT in 2008. In all, 70 people were arrested in the case. 
 
Six persons died before the charges could be framed and trial started, while two others identified as Mohan Nepali and Tejas Pathak jumped bail and are still absconding. 
 
Among the 2002 riots cases probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), in which rulings have come, Naroda is the only case, where convicts (32) outnumber those acquitted (29). 
 
In the Godhra train carnage case, court had convicted 31 and acquitted 63. In Sardarpura case, court had convicted 31 and acquitted 42, while in Dipda Darwaja case 22 had been convicted and 61 acquitted. 
 
Naroda Patiya massacre case trail started in August 2009 with 62 people being charged by the SIT. However, one of the accused, Vijay Shetty, died during the trial. 
 
With Additional Inputs from Agencies

Naroda Patiya: 31 people, BJP MLA to be sentenced

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Former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi are among the 32 people convicted in the 2002 massacre.

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Naroda Patiya: 31 people, BJP MLA to be sentenced

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