HC refuses extension of bail to former minister Maya Kodnani

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court today refused to extend the temporary bail granted to former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani convicted in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case.

A division bench of Justices Jayant Patel and R D Kothari rejected Kodnani's plea seeking extension of her bail period by 180 days.

Kodnani is currently out on bail on medical grounds. Noting that she can get treatment at government hospitals, the court said it was the government's responsibility to provide medical treatment to convicts.

The trial court had in August 2012 awarded life imprisonment to Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and 29 others for Naroda Patiya incident of 2002 riots in which 97 people were killed.

The trial court had dubbed Kodnani, a sitting BJP MLA and former minister in Narendra Modi government, as "kingpin of riots" in Naroda area and sentenced her to 26-year life imprisonment.