Naroda Patiya case: Gujarat ex-Minister Maya Kodnani walks free

Gujarat High Court upholds life term for Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi but commutes his sentence to 21 years in prison.

In this June 30, 2012 photo, former Gujarat Minister Maya Kodnani exits a court in Ahmedabad.

Former Minister Maya Kodnani was on Friday acquitted by the Gujarat High Court in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case.

The court, however, upheld the life imprisonment of Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi but commuted his sentence to 21 years in jail. It also upheld the conviction of 11 others by a special court.

Dr. Kodnani's personal assistant, Kirpal Singh Chabda, was also among the 16 acquitted.

Order reserved in August last

A Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Justices Harsha Devani and A.S Supehiya, reserved the order last August after the conclusion of the hearing.

In August 2012, the special court sentenced 32 people, including Dr. Kodnani and Bajrangi. Dr. Kodnani was sentenced to 28 years in jail. The court acquitted 29 others for want of evidence.

While the convicts challenged the court’s order in the High Court, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the case appealed against the acquittal of 29 people.

Naroda Patiya riots followed the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, in which 59 ''kar sevaks'' were killed.