Godhra train burning case: SC to hear pleas of Gujarat govt, convicts on Monday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday bail pleas of several convicts serving life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhra train burning caseA bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala is scheduled to hear along with the bail applications a batch of pleas of the convicts challenging their convictionsOn March 24 the top court had said it will dispose of the bail applications of the convicts on the next date of hearing of the matterIt had taken note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Gujarat government that he has to verify certain factual details with regard to some convictsThe top court had however extended the bail granted to one of the convicts on the ground that his wife was suffering from cancer Mehta had supported the extension of bail on medical groundsEarlier on March 17 the top court had said it will hear on March 24 the appeal of the Gujarat government and the bail pleas of several accused in the caseOn February 20 the state government had told the top court that it will be seeking death penalty to 11 convicts whose sentences in the 2002 Godhra train burning case were commuted to life imprisonment by the Gujarat High CourtWe will be seriously pressing for award of death penalty to the convicts whose death penalties were commuted into life imprisonment by the Gujarat High CourtThis is the rarest of rare cases where 59 people including women and children were burnt alive the solicitor general had saidIt is consistent everywhere that the bogie coach was locked from outside Fiftynine died including ladies and children he had addedGiving details on the court case the law officer had said 11 convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court and 20 others granted life term in the caseAlso Read India does not believe in conflict between ecology and economy PM ModiThe high court upheld total 31 convictions in the case and commuted the death penalties of the 11 convicts to life term Mehta had saidOn February 27 2002 59 people were killed when the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt at Gujarats Godhra triggering riots in the stateThe state government has come in appeal against the commutation of death penalty into life term for 11 convicts Mehta had said Several accused he added have filed pleas against the high court upholding their convictions in the caseThe top court has granted bail to two convicts in the case so far Seven other bail pleas are pending adjudication in the matterThe bench noted that a large number of bail applications have been filed before it in the case and said It has been agreed that the AORs advocatesonrecord on behalf of applicants along with advocate Swati Ghildiyal standing counsel for Gujarat shall prepare a comprehensive chart with all relevant details List after three weeksThe Supreme Court had on January 30 sought the Gujarat governments response on the bail pleas of some of the convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the caseThe court issued notice to the state government on the bail pleas of Abdul Raheman Dhantia alias Kankatto and Abdul Sattar Ibrahim Gaddi Asla among othersThe state government on the other hand said it was not merely a stone pelting case as the convicts had bolted a coach of the Sabarmati Express leading to the death of several passengers on the trainOn December 15 last year the top court granted bail to one Faruk who was serving life sentence in the case and noted that he had been in jail for 17 yearsFaruk along with several others was convicted for pelting stones at a coach of the trainThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever