A special court in Mumbai acquitted two men, Harshad Solanki and Mafat Gohil in ‘Best Bakery Case’, linked to the Gujarat Riots of 2002.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge, MG Deshpande, declared the accused as not guilty and ordered their immediate release.
The Best Bakery case stemmed from an incident where a bakery in Vadodara was set on fire by a mob during the 2002 Gujarat riots, resulting in the tragic loss of 14 lives. The daughter of the bakery owner, Zaheera Sheikh, filed a complaint against 21 individuals. All the accused were apprehended by the local police, and the trial took place in a fast-track court in Vadodara.
In June 2003, 19 of the accused were acquitted due to insufficient evidence, as key witnesses, including the complainant, turned hostile. The remaining two accused, Solanki and Gohil, were discharged.
Subsequently, activist Teesta Setalvad and Zaheera Sheikh approached the Supreme Court, which directed a re-trial of the case in 2004 and transferred it to Mumbai to ensure fairness and justice.
While the trial against the other accused was ongoing, Solanki and Gohil were arrested in connection with the Ajmer blast case. As a result, they were marked as absconding in the Best Bakery case. Finally, on December 13, 2013, they were taken into custody by the Mumbai police and had been detained in prison for the past 10 years.
The trial in Mumbai resulted in the conviction of nine out of the 19 accused. The prosecution presented only ten witnesses to establish the alleged involvement of Solanki and Gohil.
Additionally, some of the investigating officers involved in the case had passed away. The defense counsel for the accused did not dispute the deaths that occurred in the Best Bakery case.
Moreover, the three eyewitnesses in the case could not identify Solanki, while one eyewitness reportedly recognized Gohil. One of the arguments put forth by the defense was that since the eyewitness and Gohil resided in the same neighborhood, the likelihood of recognizing each other even after 21 years was high.
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