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Raj Kumar Makkad (Adv P & H High Court Chandigarh)     15 March 2012

High court begins hearing appeals of nine best bakery convic

MUMBAI: Ten years after a mob attacked Vadodara's Best Bakery killing 14 persons, the Bombay High Court on Monday began hearing appeals of nine convicts against their sentence to life awarded by a special court in Mumbai.

On March 1, 2002, two days after the Godhra carnage (on February 27, 2002 killing 54 persons), a mob attacked Best Bakery in the Hanuman Tekri area. They looted and burnt the bakery and allegedly targeted the people inside, including the owners, the Sheikh family. Among the four killed were two Hindu workers.

A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice P D Kode were hearing appeals filed by Rajubhai Baria, Pankaj Gosai, Sanjay Thakkar, Bahadursingh Chauhan, Jagdish Rajput, Dinesh Rajbhar, Sanabhai Baria , Shailesh Tadvi and Suresh Vasava. Eight persons were acquitted and the state did not appeal against their acquittal.

Senior counsel Adhik Shirodkar, appearing for the appellants, argued that the prosecution contended that there was curfew throughout Vadodara and armed police vans were patrolling the entire area. "Therefore it is humanly impossible that the entire night up to morning not a single police van could come to the bakery,'' said Shirodkar.

He said the incident allegedly took place on March 1, 2002 around 9.30pm. "In the entire area there was only one lamp-post and it was not working. How could human beings in complete darkness identify people coming out of the building)?'' Shirodkar asked.

The reference was to five persons who claimed to be eye-witnesses and backed the prosecution's case . These included Yasmin Shaikh, who was the daughter-in-law of the bakery's deceased owner.
 
SOURCE: The Times of India


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