SC To Hear Godhra Train Burning Bail Pleas Of Convicts On Tuesday

The Supreme Court on Monday stated that it will hear the bail pleas of some of the convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case on Tuesday.

A Bench comprising of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra stated that the pleas will be heard on August 1, 2023.

The Bench stated, “We have distributed the cases in four categories. One group is where death penalties were commuted by the high court. The other is of the convicts who have a specific part to play. The third one is of the people who had peripheral presence and were part of the mob.”

Furthermore, the fourth category categorizes those who are old and are facing health problems. Additionally, there was one convict whose wife had cancer.

The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, for providing the chart to senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the convicts.
It stated, “We will have it tomorrow.”

On April 21, the Supreme Court granted bail to 8 people sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhra train burning case.

Earlier, the convicts who were granted bail were Abdul Sattar Ibrahim Gaddi Asla, Yunus Abdul Hakk Samol, Mohammad Hanif Abdulla Moulvi Badam, Abdul Rauf Abdul Majid Isa, Ibrahim Abdulrazak Abdul Sattar Samol, Ayub Abdul Gani Ismail Pataliya, Soheb Yusuf Ahmed Kalandar and Suleman Ahmad Hussain.

However, the top court denied to grant bail to the four convicts, Anwar Mohammad Mehda, Saukat Abdulla Moulvi Ismail Badam, Mehboob Yakub Mitha, and Siddik Mohammad Mora, after Solicitor General Mehta opposed their applications highlighting their role in the incident.

Senior advocate Hegde requested an adjournment for the hearing of rejected bail petitions, citing the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr on April 22.

Solicitor General Mehta asserted that the case involved more than just stone-pelting, as the convicts set ablaze a bogie of the Sabarmati Express, resulting in the tragic deaths of 59 passengers.

Several appeals against the conviction are still pending before the Supreme Court.

Previously, the high court commuted the death sentences of 11 convicts to life imprisonment and upheld life sentences for 20 others in the Godhra train burning case in its October 2017 judgment.