Gandhi Nagar: The Gujarat High Court on Friday acquitted former BJP minister Maya Kodnani in 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case. The court upheld the conviction of former Bajrang Dal Babu Bajrangi.
Kodnani, who was among 32 people convicted in the case by a special court, had moved the High Court against the verdict. Kodnani is currently out on bail.
Naroda Patiya riot is one of the worst incidents which followed the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, in which 59 kar sevaks were killed. 97 people, including 36 women and 35 children, from the Muslim community were killed in Naroda Patiya area of Ahmedabad on 28 February, 2002.
In August 2012, a special court for SIT cases had sentenced 32 people, including Kodnani, to life imprisonment.
The trial court had held that she was the mastermind of the violence in Naroda area.
Kodnani was sentenced to 28 years of imprisonment. Another high-profile accused, former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, was given life imprisonment till death.
While the convicts challenged the lower court’s order in the high court, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appealed against the acquittal of 29 people.