Ahmedabad:
A court in Ahmedabad pronounced the quantum of punishment for 32 convicts in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case today.
Here are the 10 big developments in this case:
The court sent former minister Maya Kodnani to jail for 28 years. She is convicted of charges like criminal conspiracy and murder during Gujarat's communal riots in 2002.
Ms Kodnani would serve the jail term under different Sections of the IPC - 10 years under Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 18 years under Sections 120 (B)(criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder).
Another convict Babu Bajrangi, who is Bajrang Dal leader, has got life term. The remaining 30 have been sentenced to 31 years in jail.
The riots in Naroda Patiya in Northern Ahmedabad were the worst episode among the communal riots of Gujarat. On February 28, 2002, a mob armed with guns, bombs and machetes killed 97 Muslims in Naroda Patiya, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had called a bandh to protest against the Godhra riots, which had taken place the previous day - a train was set on fire; most if its passengers were kar-sewaks (pilgrims) returning from a journey to Ayodhya; nearly 60 people were killed.
The prosecution had sought the maximum punishment of death sentence for all the convicts in the Naroda Patiya case.
Ms Kodnani, who won three state elections from the Naroda area, was considered to be close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi. She is the first woman and first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case. Ms Kodnani, who is a doctor, was the Minister for Women and Child Development between 2007 and 2009 when she was arrested by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Her conviction has left Mr Modi's government on the defensive. "At the time it (riots) took place, she was not a minister," said Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas after the court's verdict on Thursday.
The investigation was handled originally by the Gujarat Police, but in 2009, the Supreme Court appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe 10 cases, including the Naroda Patiya incident.
Among the Gujarat riots cases investigated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), the Naroda riots are the only case in which the convicts (32) outnumber those acquitted (29) .
The Congress has used Ms Kodnani's conviction to target Mr Modi and the BJP. Congress' Digvijaya Singh had said, "It has been proved now that BJP's minister and officials were involved in the Gujarat riots. Everything that happened was at the behest of Narendra Modi."
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