- Librehan report on Babri demolition tabled in Parliament
- We own Ayodhya movement, but not going to apologise: RSS
- Govt. tables Liberhan report in the Parliament
- BJP disrupts LS proceedings, questions Govt.'s sincerity in tabling of Liberhan report
- Onion prices fall in Maharashtra
- Veteran actress Waheeda Rehman inaugurates 40th International Film Festival of India
Post-Godhra accused granted bail; SIT mulling next step
A day after Gujarat Sessions court granted anticipatory bail to post-Godhra communal riots accused Maya Kodnani, minister of state for education and women’s welfare, and Jaideep Patel, VHP leader, State Investigation Team said on Friday that it was studying the court order before taking further action in the matter.
-
E-mail Article 
Printer Friendly
Text-Size 
The five-member team, SIT, appointed by the Supreme Court to reinvestigate some post-Godhra riots cases, headed by former CBI chief R K Raghavan told reporters: “We have received the copy of the court order today and are studying it. Only after its thorough study we will be able to finalise course of further action.”
Sessions court on Thursday while granting bail to Kodnani and Patel accepted the SIT’s contention that duo were part of the mob responsible for killing people during the post-Godhra communal riots at Naroda Gam and Naroda Patia. While in the Naroda Patia riot cases, 89 people of the minority community were killed on Feb 28, 2002, in the Naroda Gam case, 11 people were butchered to death the same day.
Both the incidents along with several others broke out a day after the torching of the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express, wherein 59 kar sevaks (activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad) died in Godhra.
Despite observing that Kodnani and Patel were responsible for the killing, the court granted bail on the ground that other co-accused, who had been spotted with weapons during the riot, had been granted bail in the past. Patel, too, was granted bail on the same ground.
Strangely, SIT neither pressed for Kodnani’s custody nor presented concrete evidence to strengthen its case.
ASJ AK Aswani said, “The applicant (Kodnani) is a woman and does not have any criminal record against her. Therefore, there is no possibility of her committing an offence again, if she is released on bail.”
The duo had filed for anticipatory bail after they were declared absconders by SIT on Monday. Meanwhile, after remaining ‘invisible’ for five days Kodnani resurfaced on Friday, a day after the court granted them bail.