Former MLA Maya Kodnani with advocates comes out of the Sessions Court after the verdict in the Naroda Gam massacre case, in Ahmedabad, Thursday, April 20, 2023. A special SIT court in Ahmedabad on Thursday acquitted all the 67 accused, including Kodnani. , Photo Credit: PTI
BJP targeted Congress and Rajya Sabha MP on 21 April Kapil Sibal for “pointing the finger at the court” Which acquitted all 67 accused in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Gam riots case, saying that their observations were not supported by facts. It said it would pursue the matter further.
The Congress alleged that a lapse by the prosecution led to the acquittal of all the accused and said that justice may be delayed but not denied.
Mr Sibal, a senior advocate, criticized the court’s decision and asked whether “we should celebrate the rule of law or despair over its demise”.
BJP national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam hit back at him saying, “Those who are pointing fingers at the court should introspect as there are instances when they praised the court when it benefited them.”
Asked to comment on the remarks of the Congress and Mr Sibal, Mr Islam said at a press conference, “And today, when the verdict is against their own interest, they are making such a statement.”
BJP spokesperson said, “This is a very hollow statement, which has no truth.”
More than two decades later, 11 Muslims were killed in-Godhra incident in Naroda Gama court in gujarat acquitted all the accusedincluding former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani and former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi.
The Ahmedabad-based court of SK Bakshi, Special Judge for Special Investigation Team cases acquitted all the accused in one of the worst massacres during the state-wide riots on February 27, 2002, the Sabarmati train massacre. The Naroda Gam case was investigated by the SIT appointed by the Supreme Court.
While a lawyer for the victims’ families said the verdict would be challenged before the Gujarat High Court, the accused persons and their relatives termed the verdict as a “victory for truth”.