By India Blooms News Service Apr 22, 2023
New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to eight people who were convicted in the 2002 Godhra train burning case, media reports said.
However, the bail application of four other convicts was rejected because of their role in the incident.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud headed the bench that granted bail to the eight convicts.
The court gave the bail considering that they had already spent more than 17 years in prison.
The eight people were earlier convicted and given life sentences, which were upheld by the Gujarat High Court.
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected the bail application of those convicts who were originally sentenced to death by the trial court but had their sentence commuted to life imprisonment by the Gujarat High Court.
The Gujarat government opposed the bail plea arguing that the convicts were involved in serious offenses, with the Solicitor General stating that they had bolted the train door from the outside.
The defense argued that the convicts had already spent 17 years in prison.
The Godhra train coach-burning incident occurred on February 27, 2002, resulting in the deaths of 58 people and sparking large-scale riots in Gujarat.
Some coaches of Sabarmati Express were burnt at the Godhra Railway Station in Gujarat, leading to large-scale riots.
In 2011, a local court convicted 31 individuals and acquitted 63.
Eleven of the accused were sentenced to death and 20 were awarded life imprisonment.
The Gujarat High Court upheld the conviction of all 31 accused but commuted the death sentences of the 11 to life imprisonment.
The convicts challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, and the appeal has been pending since 2018.