Gujarat High Court grants bail to 2002 Naroda Patiya riot convict

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court today granted bail to one of the 31 convicts of Naroda Patiya riot case of 2002. As many as 97 people were killed at Naroda Patiya here during a post-Godhra riots.

The division bench of Justices R R Tripathi and R D Kothari granted bail to Kirpalsingh Chhabda who was the personal assistant to former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani (convicted in the same case) on the ground of `parity'.

Chhabda's petition said he should be released as Kodnani had already been granted bail last July.

There were only two witnesses who deposed against him while 11 witnesses deposed against Kodnani, Chabda's petition pointed out. Further, none of the witnesses had alluded to his overt role in the riot, it said.

The Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team had opposed his plea. Special prosecutor Prashant Desai argued that Kodnani was granted bail only on the ground of deteriorating health, which was not the case here.

Chhabda has been awarded life sentence by the trial court.

Kodnani was the MLA from Naroda at the time of riots. She was later made minister of state for Women and Child Development in 2007 but had to resign after the arrest in the case in March 2009.