India: Supreme Court denies bail to three convicts in 2002 Godhra train burning case

India's Supreme Court on Monday (August 14) denied bail to three convicts in the Godhra train burning and violence case of 2002. A bench, presided by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud andJustices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra, said it could not grant bail as all three convicts had active roles in the incident.

Convicts, Saukat Yusuf Ismail, Bilal Abdullah Ismail and Siddikare, are currently serving life terms in the case.

"Having regard to the specific role of the appellants, we are not inclined to enlarge them on bail. Needless to say, it will not impact the merits of the appeal," the court said in its order, according to Bar and Bench.

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Notably, Bilal was found guilty of instigating the mob and using deadly weapons. Siddik was convicted for egging the mob as well and using deadly weapons whileSaukat is serving jail for pelting stones, causing damage to the railway coaches and looting the ornaments of passengers.

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Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the defendants said there was no recovery of gold ornaments from the accused as alleged. He added that the three have been languishing in prison for 20 years.

Meanwhile, CJI Chandrachud, commenting on the case said,"The incident is also a very serious incident. It is not a question of an isolated person being murdered."

What happened in 2002?

Notably, the burning of the Sabarmati Express train on 27February 2002kickstarted the Gujarat riots. The train was carrying 59 passengers, mostly 'karsevaks' (Hindu religious volunteers), who were returning from the holy city of Ayodhya. According to reports, a mob of 2,000 set four coaches of the train on fire.

A day later,protests started against the burning of the train and 11 Muslims were burnt to death after a frenzied mob set their houses on fire in a locality known as Muslim Mahollam Kumbhar Vas in the Naroda Gam area of Ahmedabad.

Earlier this year, a special court in Ahmedabadacquitted the 69 accused in the 2002 Naroda Gam riots case.Special judge Shubhada Baxi pronounced the result, with former BJP MLA Maya Kodani, ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi andVishwa Hindu Parishad leader Jaydeep Patel among those freed.

(With inputs from agencies)

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