Godhra Sabarmati Express burning case: Gujarat HC commutes death sentence to 11 convicts into life imprisonment

GANDHINAGAR: The death sentences given to 11 convicts for burning the Sabarmati Express in Godhra has been commuted to life imprisonment. Delivering the verdict on Monday, a division bench of Justices Anant S Dave and GR Udhwani of the Gujarat high court said that it was upholding the conviction of the 11 but commuting their punishment to rigorous life imprisonment. The HC also upheld life sentences given to 20 others by a special court that tried the case.

Fifty-nine Kar Sevaks were burnt to death after the Sabarmati Express was torched in Godhra on February 27, 2002. The incident triggered large-scale communal riots in Gujarat. The lawyer representing the victims said that they would approach the Supreme Court against commuting of sentences.

“The state has failed to maintain law and order, so has the railways,” the high court said, while ordering the state and the railways to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each of those killed in the train burning.

The court also ordered compensation, as per disabilities suffered, to those injured in the incident. The division bench also said that it regretted the delay in the pronouncement of the judgement as hearing on appeals had concluded much earlier.

The court relied on the testimonies of injured witnesses, passengers, railway employees, Railway Protection Force personnel, two policemen from Godhra, the Gujarat railway police, experts from forensic laboratories and also the confessional statements. It rejected the appeals filed by the special investigation team against the acquittal of 63 people, and also its appeals seeking enhancement of sentences. The court also rejected the appeals against the conviction.

A special SIT court had on March 1, 2011, convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 others in the case. While 11 people were sentenced to death, 20 were given life imprisonment by the lower court. The lower court had accepted the prosecution’s contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident. All 31 were convicted under IPC sections related to murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy.