Godhra convicts had given Rajiv’s plea for release, know what the Gujarat government replied

New Delhi: In the Supreme Court, the criminals of Godhra have appealed for pardon, similar to the exemption given to the criminals involved in the murder of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. It may be noted that in 2002, 59 pilgrims returning from Ayodhya were killed when a train bogie was set on fire in Godhra. This petition of the criminals of Godhra is pending in the Supreme Court since 2018.

Senior advocate KTS Tulsi, appearing for the Godhra convicts, said that almost all the convicts have served 16-18 years of imprisonment. He argued that in many cases, questions have been raised on the conviction of the trial court. He also referred to the Supreme Court’s order to the UP government in which the apex court had asked the state government to consider a pardon for those who have spent 14 years in jail for life imprisonment.

Tulsi said that the petition is to be heard against the Gujarat High Court’s decision in 2017, in which the court had commuted the death sentence of 11 people to life imprisonment and upheld the life sentence of the rest. He said that these culprits should be given bail.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and GB Pardiwala asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, whether these convicts could be granted pardon. Mehta said that this crime is of heinous nature. The train was stopped, the S-6 coach of Sabarmati was doused with petrol from outside and set on fire. After this, the conspirators of this incident and the people who executed it started pelting stones at the bogie. Due to which the passengers sitting in this burning bogie could not get out of the train. Not only this, they also stopped the fire engines from reaching near the train. Due to which 59 people including children and women died. There cannot be a more heinous and rarest of rare crime than this. He said that the Gujarat government has also filed a petition against the state High Court commuting the death sentence of those 11 people to life imprisonment.

Mehta said that TADA has been invoked against these convicts and they are not entitled to any relief. Significantly, in the Godhra case, one of the convicts has been released on bail on humanitarian grounds. The wife of the convict is suffering from a serious illness like cancer and the mental health of his two little girls is not good. On this, the court had released him on bail. However, the petition of this convict is still pending in the Supreme Court.

After hearing Mehta’s arguments, the Supreme Court asked the petitioner’s advocate on record and state government’s counsel Swati Ghildiyal to prepare a detailed report on the Godhra carnage convicts. The matter will now be heard in the court after three weeks.

It may be noted that in 2017, the Gujarat High Court had commuted the death sentence of 11 Godhra carnage convicts to life imprisonment. Apart from this, the life sentence of more than 20 convicts was upheld. While 63 accused were acquitted.