The Supreme Court has stayed proceedings in the Gujarat High Court on appeals filed by convicts in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case for two months. Former Minister Maya Kodnani was awarded life sentence in the case.
“There will be interim stay on proceedings in the High Court on the appeals for two months,” a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices M B Lokur and M Y Iqbal said.
The bench expressed concern over how Kodnani’s appeal was being expeditiously heard and that of her Personal Assistant kept aside. To this, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the state government, agreed that both the appeals could be heard together.
A special trial court had on August 30, 2012 awarded life imprisonment to Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and 29 others for killings and hatching a criminal conspiracy.
The apex court-appointed Special Investigating Team (SIT) also contended that the High Court has been expeditiously hearing only Kodnani’s appeal when appeals of her co-convicts were pending too. The apex court expressed the view that all the eleven appeals should be heard together.
As many as 84 survivors of Naroda Patiya riot case had written a letter to the acting Chief Justice of the High Court to change the division bench headed by justice Ravi Tripathi.
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