Godhra case: Special court awards death sentence to 11 convicts

New Delhi: Eleven accused have been sentenced to death, while 20 have been sent for life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhara Train burning case. A special fast track court pronounced its judgement today, which was reserved after the conviction of 31 accused and acquittal of 62 in the case. Designate Judge P.R. Patel has termed this case as rarest of the rare while pronouncing the judgement. Earlier, the special court had found these 31 accused guilty of a “pre-planned conspiracy” to set fire to coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express on the outskirts of Godhra station on 27th February 2002. The quantum of punishment has been announced in the special sitting of the court in the high security Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad.
AIR Ahmedabad correspondent reports that earlier the prosecution counsel JM Panchal also demanded the death penalty to all 31 accused terming the incident as “rarest of the rare” cases. During the last hearing on 25th February, the prosecution counsel has also argued that 59 innocent persons lost their lives and 48 others were injured in the S-6 coach fire, which was a case of “brutal murder and criminal conspiracy.”