The acquittal of all 67 persons accused in the killing of 11 Muslims at Naroda Gam, Ahmedabad during the 2002 Gujarat riots raises disturbing questions, particularly about the role of the prosecution. The Naroda Gam case was one of the nine major riot cases investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) and heard by special courts. It is a travesty of justice when a court takes 21 years to pronounce its verdict in such a high-profile case. Further, the prosecution’s failure to fix responsibility for the murders after this long drawn out trial casts a shadow over the criminal justice system.
The prosecution has a hard task on hand when the lines between the accused in riot cases and those holding powerful office are blurred. One of the accused in the Naroda Gam was Maya Kodnani, who became a minister in 2007, and among those who testified in her favour was now Union Minister of Home, Amit Shah. Kodnani, who served a prison term in the 2002 riots following her 2012 conviction by a special court in the Naroda Patiya massacre, was cleared in the Naroda Gam case on Thursday. In 2018, the Gujarat High Court overturned her conviction in Naroda Patiya, in which 97 Muslims had been killed. Riot/communal violence trials in India tend to drag on and convictions are hard won. The 2002 Gujarat riots cases promised to be different as the Supreme Court had intervened on behalf of the victims. The Court moved out some of the sensational cases out of Gujarat, instituted an SIT and even monitored the trials. This resulted in a few convictions. However, the Supreme Court ended its supervision of the cases in 2018. In June last year, the apex court dismissed a plea that alleged conspiracy at the highest levels of the administration in the riots and accused those who had filed the petition of trying “to create sensation …to keep the pot boiling, obviously for ulterior design”. The Court also held them of “abuse of process” and said they “need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law”. However, the SC has been asking tough questions recently regarding the remission granted to the 11 convicts serving life in the Bilkis Bano case. Earlier this week, it berated the Gujarat government and the Centre for refusing to share files related to the remission.
The Naroda Gam verdict is set to be heard in the High Court. The challenge now is in proceeding with the case wherein the accused and those holding executive power seem to be on the same political side. The prosecution has its task cut out.
