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The Supreme Court on Thursday posted for final hearing on February 13 appeals filed by the Gujarat government and several other convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar said that no adjournment will be given in the matter on the next date of hearing. The apex court asked parties to translate the court records which are in Gujarati to English and digitise so that the records are accessible to all parties. A batch of criminal appeals was filed by the 2002 Godhra convicts against their conviction by the trial court and then the Gujarat High Court. They challenged the October 2017 verdict of the High Court which had upheld the conviction of several convicts. The Gujarat government had also approached the apex court seeking the award of the death penalty to the 11 convicts whose sentences in the case were commuted to life imprisonment by the High Court. The High Court had upheld a total of 31 convictions in the case and commuted the death penalties of the 11 convicts to life term in the case. The incident took place on February 27, 2002, when a coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt, causing 59 deaths that triggered riots across the state. In March 2011, the trial court had convicted 31 persons, of which 20 were awarded life sentences and 11 were to be hanged. It had acquitted 63 people. (ANI)
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