Ahmedabad, June 17 (IANS) Fourteen years after 69 people were massacred at a housing society here during the Gujarat riots, a court on Friday sentenced 11 of the 24 convicts to life imprisonment, one man to 10 years and 12 others to seven years in jail.
Pronouncing the punishment in a packed courtroom, Special SIT Court Judge P.B. Desai called the day of the killings "the darkest day in the history of civil society" but rejected the prosecution's request to treat it as a "rarest of rare" cases.
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A convict in connection with a riot in Gujarat in 2002 gestures from inside a police vehicle at a court after the sentencing in Ahmedabad, India June 17, 2016. REUTERS/Amit Dave[/caption]
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A convict in connection with a riot in Gujarat in 2002 are escorted by police at a court before a hearing in Ahmedabad, India June 17, 2016. REUTERS/Amit Dave[/caption]
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A convict in connection with a riot in Gujarat in 2002 is seen inside a police vehicle at a court after the sentencing in Ahmedabad, India June 17, 2016. REUTERS/Amit Dave[/caption]
He refused capital punishment to the convicts as sought by the prosecution and advocates for the victims, stating it was beyond the jurisdiction of his court.
The judge also said he would not write in the verdict that those sentenced to life must be kept in prison till their last breath in view of their good conduct while on bail and in jail during the trial.
The government had the right to remit the life sentence after 14 years if it wished to, but Judge Desai appealed to it not to invoke the provision.
The court earlier turned down the conspiracy theory in its verdict.
All the 11 sentenced to life were charged with murder while the one who got 10 years in prison was charged with attempt to murder. Twelve others, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Atul Vaidya, who were found guilty of rioting and arson, were awarded seven years in prison.
As many as 69 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed on February 28, 2002 when an armed mob 20,000-25,000 strong attacked the Gulberg Society here inhabited by Muslims.
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The ancestral home of Zakia Jafri, whose late husband, a lawmaker for the Congress party, was hacked to death by a Hindu mob in riots, is seen at the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim owned residential area, in Ahmedabad, India, September 16, 2015. REUTERS/Amit Dave/Files[/caption]
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Kasam Bhai Mansoori, a Muslim, displays a photograph of his mother Sona Ben Mansoori at his house which was burnt and damaged in the Gujarat 2002 riots at the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim-dominated housing, in Ahmedabad February 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood/Files[/caption]
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Sayeed Khan Pathan, a Muslim, poses inside his house which was burnt and damaged in the Gujarat 2002 riots at the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim-dominated housing, in Ahmedabad February 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood/Files[/caption]
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Survivors of the 2002 Gujarat riots, Salim Bhai Sindhi (R) comforts his wife Sayraben as she weeps inside their house that was burnt and damaged in the riots at the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim-dominated housing, during the commemoration of its 12th anniversary in Ahmedabad February 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood/Files[/caption]
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A relative of the convicted in connection with a riot in Gujarat in 2002, is consoled as she cries outside a court during a hearing in Ahmedabad , India June 17, 2016. REUTERS/Amit Dave[/caption]
It was one of the most horrific outbursts of violence during the 2002 Gujarat riots which were sparked off by a train burning at Godhra that led to the death of 59 Hindus, mostly VHP supporters.
