2002 Naroda Gam Massacre Case| Ahmedabad Special Court Acquits All 67 Accused Including Ex-Minister Maya Kodnani, Babu Bajrangi

A special court in Gujarat's Ahmedabad District today ACQUITTED all 67 accused including former minister Maya Kodnani, ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Jaydeep Patel in the 2002 Gujarat Riots-Naroda Gam Massacre Case.

Special Judge Shubhada Krishnakant Baxi acquitted them of charges under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), and 153 (provocation for riots) of IPC, among others.

#JustIN | A special court of Gujarat has ACQUITTED all 68 accused including former minister Maya Kodnani in the 2002 Gujarat Riots-Naroda Gam Massacre Case.#GujaratRiots #NarodaPatiya pic.twitter.com/uxJFoWuGDR

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) April 20, 2023

The massacre at Naroda Gam was one of the nine major 2002 communal riots that occurred in which a total of 11 Muslims were allegedly killed during the communal riots following the burning of the Sabarmati Express in Godhra on February 27, 2002. 

Kodnani, who served as the Women and Child Development Minister in the Cabinet of the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, was earlier convicted in the Naroda Patiya case in the year 2012 and was sentenced to 28 years in jail, however, she was later acquitted by the Gujarat High Court in the year 2018.

The instant case, in which she has secured acquittal pertains to committing criminal conspiracy besides rioting, murder and attempt to murder. Initially, 86 accused were charge-sheeted in the matter, however, during the course of the trial, the case against 18 were abated, and one accused was discharged. The remaining 67 accused faced the trial, who have been acquitted today. 

The trial in the case started in the year 2010 and for the next 13 years, 6 different judges presided over the case including Judges S H Vora (now a Gujarat HC Judges), Jyotsna Yagnik, K K Bhatt and P B Desai.