Best PP row settled, two from Gujarat

Earlier, the court had asked both the governments to work out an amicable solution over the impasse created on the appointment of prosecutors by Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Although it is not clear whether Maharashtra government has consulted Gujarat, official sources said the problem has been resolved. Earlier, Gujarat government had announced the appointment of Vadodara-based lawyer Atul Mehta.

The case would come up tomorrow for hearing before Judge Abhay Thipsay who has been appointed by the Bombay High Court to hear the re-trial involving killing of 14 people in post-Godhra riots.

The Supreme Court had on April 12 ordered the Bombay High Court to set up a special court for retrial of 21 accused in the case who were acquitted by a fast track court in Gujarat after the witnesses in the case turned hostile. Accordingly, the High Court appointed Judge Thipsay to conduct the retrial.

Fourteen people, most of them from minority community, were killed in a carnage in Best Bakery in Vadodara on March 1, 2002.