The Gujarat High Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition moved by Babubhai Patel alias Babu Bajrangi, serving life imprisonment in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case, seeking regular bail. Bajrangi had sought bail claiming loss of eyesight, and that he should be allowed to stay with his family members who can take better care of him. During argument over the petition, a division bench comprising Justices Mohinder Pal and R D Kothari enquired whether Bajrangi’s eyesight could be restored. His lawyer P M Lakhani replied that it could not be restored as he cited the medical reports. [related-post] In such a situation, the bench said, bail could not be granted. “It is not going to make any difference now whether he is in jail or outside. For him everything will be the same inside or outside the jail. In jail, he will have more company with fellow inmates, who can take care of him. If you insist we can pass an order to the jail authorities to give him attendants,” Justice Pal told Lakhani. The bench was not convinced that on the grounds of loss of vision regular bail could be granted to Bajrangi. The court said said if there was no scope of further treatment, the relief could not be given. Following the argument, Lakhani didn’t press to go ahead with the petition and the court ordered the petition be “dismissed as withdrawn”. Bajrangi is currently on a three-month bail, ending next month. The interim bail was given for treatment of his eyes. “We went to a hospital in Chennai where the doctors said that there is no hope. Therefore, we moved a regular bail application as he needs a person round the clock. He can’t do anything without help,” said his son Tarun. Earlier this year, Bajrangi through his wife had sought mercy from the Gujarat government and the Governor, saying that he was going “blind���. However, the Special Investigation Team, which has been investigating the case, opined that since the case was sub judice no such plea could be entertained. Bajrangi is among the 32 persons held guilty for the Naroda Patiya massacre in which 97 people were killed. The massacre had taken place a day after a coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt down near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002, which caused death of 54 “karsevaks”. Apart from Bajrangi, former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and others have also been sentenced to life imprisonment.
