Beyond Best Bakery: SC turns light on 12 riot cases

The bench also asked the counsel for Gujarat to file his response within four weeks to an affidavit filed by Citizens for Justice and Peace which submitted a detailed account of prosecutors who were either members or leaders of local units of the RSS or the VHP in Gujarat.

The affidavit further stated that relatives of the accused were kept as witnesses in many cases. When K T S Tulsi, counsel for the 21 accused in the Best Bakery case, contended that the observations of the apex court would adversely affect the outcome of the appeal pending in the Gujarat High Court, Chief Justice Khare said: ‘‘We are holding our hands because the matter is pending there. We are awaiting the outcome there. The High Court will hear the case without any influence of the remarks made here. Judges go by material on record, not by what they read in newspapers.’’.

Amicus curiae Harish Salve told the court that there were three dimensions to the case. The first was the Best Bakery case, the second were four cases involving nine incidents and the third was the issue of protection to witnesses. ‘‘I will formulate a larger picture before the court in the next few weeks,’’ Salve said.

Before adjourning the matter, Chief Justice Khare said no further orders were required to be passed. ‘‘We hope the hearing will commence earnestly and will be over expeditiously,’’ he said.