Godhra judgement to be pronounced on Feb 19

Designated judge P R Patel, who completed hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence in September last year, will pronounce the judgement on the sensitive case on February 19, special public prosecutor in the case J M Panchal said.

After completion of the hearing in September, the Supreme Court had stayed the pronouncement of the judgement.

The stay, however, was lifted on October 26, 2010.

The trial in the case began inside the Sabarmati jail in June 2009 with framing of the charges against the 94 accused who have been in the jail since 2002.

All the accused in the case have been charged with criminal conspiracy, murder and burning the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express train near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002 in which 58 people, mostly `kar sevaks` 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.

Prosecution slapped POTA on the accused though it was later revoked by the POTA Review Committee.

The Nanavati Commission appointed by the state government to probe the Godhra carnage had concluded that the fire in the S6 coach was not caused by an accident but due to petrol thrown at it.

"The burning of the coach S6 was a pre-planned act. In other words, there was a conspiracy to burn the coach of Sabarmati Express train coming from Ayodhya and to cause harm to the `kar sevaks` travelling in the coach," the Nanavati Commission report submitted to the state government in September 2008 said.

The Commission had also exonerated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, his council of ministers and the police from any role in the Godhra train-burning incident.