Fast-track courts for Gujarat riot cases

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to transfer the trial of over 10 major post-Godhra riot cases out of Gujarat, but ordered the state government to form six fast-track courts to conduct day-to-day trial in these cases.

The order comes as a reprieve for Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whose alleged role in the 2002 riots is already under a scanner following the April 27 court direction to the special investigation team (SIT).

A bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat ordered protection for witnesses and appointment of prosecutors for the trial in consultation with the SIT headed by former CBI Director R.K. Raghavan.

The court vacated its November 2003 stay order and asked the state to appoint experienced lawyers as special public prosecutors. It gave liberty to the SIT to file supplementary chargesheets against the accused on the basis of its probe.

The fast-track courts will be set up in Ahmedabad, Anand, Mehsana and Sabarkantha districts and senior judicial officers would conduct the trials “with utmost expedition” as the trial had already been delayed by seven years. The court requested the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court to select the judicial officers.

It ordered measures for witness protection so that victims could depose fearlessly. These include safe passage for the witnesses to and from the trial court, security at their residence wherever necessary, and relocation to other states, if needed.

It would be open to the SIT seeking a change of public prosecutors if any deficiency was found and recommending cancellation of bail if necessary.

The order came six years after the National Human Rights Commission filed a plea seeking shifting of the trial in major post-Godhra riot cases arising out of nine incidents during the 2002 riots. These included the Gulbarg Society massacre in which around 70 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffri, were killed.

The other cases related to the Godhra train case, the Gulbarg massacre, the Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya massacres and the Sardarpura and Ode killings.