Guj HC begins final hearing in Naroda Patiya riot case

The Gujarat High court on Tuesday began final hearing on appeals in the Naroda Patiya riot case, in which 97 people, mostly from a minority community, were killed in 2002.

A two-judge Bench of the high court, comprising Justice Mohinder Pal and Justice RD Kothari, heard the submissions made by an SIT, which probed the case on the directions of the Supreme Court. Special Public Prosecutor for SIT Prashant Desai made a submission before the Bench about the role of the Apex Court-appointed probe agency. Desai read out the SC judgement, which directed to form the <g data-gr-id="17">SIT,</g> and said before the court how the SIT was constituted to probe the case.

On Wednesday, Desai will read the FIR of the case before the high court. In this case, <g data-gr-id="16">cross appeals</g> have also been filed by the convicts, survivors and SIT on the issue of enhancement of the sentence or for challenging the punishment awarded by the special trial court.