Godhra judgement postponed till February 22

Ahmedabad: The judgement on the Godhra train carnage case that triggered massive communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 will now be pronounced on February 22.

Designated Judge P R Patel, who completed hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence last September, has postponed the pronouncement of judgement on the sensitive case to February 22.

Last month, he said the verdict would be pronounced on February 19.

After completion of the hearing last September, the pronouncement could not happen as there was a Supreme Court stay on it. This stay was lifted on October 26.

The trial was conducted inside the Sabarmati Central jail here, against 94 accused. It began in June 2009 with the framing of the charges against the accused who have been in Sabarmati jail since 2002.

All the accused in the case have been charged with criminal conspiracy and murder for burning the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002 in which 58 people, mostly karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, were killed.

Following the incident, widespread communal riots broke out in different parts of the state in which over 1,000 people were killed.