The Supreme Court announced that it will hear the appeals filed by the Gujarat government and other convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case on February 13. A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar emphasized that no adjournment would be granted on the next date of the hearing.
On February 27, 2002, 59 people lost their lives when the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire at Gujarat’s Godhra, leading to riots in the state. The Gujarat High Court had upheld the conviction of several convicts and converted the death sentences of 11 individuals to life imprisonment in October 2017, resulting in numerous appeals being filed in the apex court.
The Gujarat government expressed its intention to seek the death penalty for the 11 convicts whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in February 2023. During the recent hearing, a lawyer representing a convict claimed that no evidence had been presented on record.
Justice Maheshwari reiterated that the case would not be adjourned, stating, "We will not adjourn this case. This case has been adjourned at least five times." The bench also declined to hear the remission pleas simultaneously with the criminal appeals.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, representing one of the convicts, stressed the need to address the appeal filed by Gujarat against the commutation of the death penalty before proceeding with the sentencing. The court postponed the hearing to February 13 following requests for additional time from the lawyers of the convicts.
Earlier, the state's counsel revealed that 11 convicts were initially sentenced to death by the trial court, while 20 others received life imprisonment. The high court upheld 31 convictions and changed the death penalties of 11 convicts to life terms.
