New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday sought reply from the Gujarat government on bail petitions of some convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhra train coach-burning case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Gujarat government, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud that it was not just a matter of stone throwing at the bogey of the Sabarmati Express, but instead the convicts had bolted the bogey, which resulted in death of many passengers on the train.
Mehta said: “Some are saying their role was just stone pelting. But when you lock a bogey from outside, light it on fire and then pelt stones, it is not just stone pelting.”
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, representing some of the convicts, contended that the state government has filed appeals in the cases of certain convicts whose capital punishment was commuted to life sentence by the Gujarat High Court.
The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, told Mehta: “We will list (the bail pleas) after two weeks.”
After hearing brief submissions in the matter, the apex court issued notice to the state government on the bail pleas of Abdul Raheman Dhantia alias Kankatto, Abdul Sattar Ibrahim Gaddi Asla, and others.
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