2002 Gulberg society case: Gujarat HC admits appeals of 16 convicts

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday admitted for final hearing the appeals filed by 16 of the 24 convicts in the 2002 Gulberg society riot case.

Sixty-nine people including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri were killed in the violence at Gulberg society here during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The appeals of these 16 convicts will now come up for final hearing before the division bench of justices Anant S Dave and B N Karia. Others have not filed the appeals yet.

On June 17, the special court for the riot cases sentenced 11 convicts to life imprisonment, 12 persons to seven years’ jail term and one person to 10 years in jail. The court acquitted 36 others.

VHP leader Atul Vaidh and Mangilal Jain (who is the only convict to get 10 years’ jail term) are among those who have filed the appeals.

The Gulberg society massacre took place on March 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident which led to communal riots in Gujarat.