Six years after a rash of bomb blasts rocked Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, killing 57 people, the trial in the case has dragged on for a long time owing to several interruptions.
Out of 1,600 witnesses, the prosecution has so far examined 347 witnesses, comprising injured victims, doctors and panchas. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch filed a charge sheet against 26 accused before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate GM Patel in November 2009. With further supplementary charge sheets, the total number of charge sheeted accused stands at 75.
Since the filing of the charge sheet, the case has been handled by several judges. Special judge K K Bhatt, currently presiding over the trial, is set to retire in September, and the case is slated to be heard by yet another judge.
The charges were framed by special designated sessions judge Bela Trivedi. Judge VP Patel too undertook the examination of some witnesses, but he was later transferred. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court stayed the trial in 2010, following a plea by the accused persons to transfer the cases out of Gujarat alleging bias by the police and judiciary in the State.
It was after a year that the apex court vacated the stay and the trial began before Special Judge Jyotsna Yagnik at the designated court inside the high security Sabarmati Central Jail, where the alleged accused are lodged. Two other judges had heard the matter briefly before her. After Judge Yagnik retired, the matter went to Judge KK Bhatt.
“There have been several changes in judges presiding over the trial, but after the Supreme Court vacated the stay on proceedings, 347 witnesses have been examined in one and half years,” a defence lawyer told The Hindu.
While the Supreme Court has directed that the trial be conducted “expeditiously”, the hearing takes place twice a week.
During the course of the trial, the Sabarmati Jail authorities thwarted a jailbreak attempt by the blast accused, wherein an 18-foot-long tunnel was dug in the barrack. Following the escape bid, activity of the accused persons has been highly restricted. They have been shifted to single barracks to allow no communication with the other jail mates.