All you need to know about Godhra train burning case

Agencies
October 9, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 9: The Gujarat high court is likely to pronounce its verdict on a set of appeals challenging convictions and acquittals by a Special Investigation Team court in the 2002 Godhra train burning case on Monday, more than two years after the completion of hearings on the matter.

The judgement will be delivered by a bench of justice Anant Dave and justice GR Udhwani at about 11am.

Here’s all you need to know about the case:

Train set on fire

A coach of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire at Godhra on February 27, 2002. The blaze in S6 coach killed 59 Hindus, mostly karsevaks or volunteers returning from Ayodhya, where rival Hindu and Muslim groups are locked in a decades-old dispute over a religious site.

The train fire sparked three days of reprisal attacks across the state that left 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus dead, official sources say. And as many as 100,000 Muslims and 40,000 Hindus were rendered homeless in the riots. About 130 are still reported missing.

Probe into the carnage

The Nanavati Commission, appointed by the Gujarat government to probe the incident, concluded that the fire in the coach was not an accident but it was set on fire. The Sangh Parivar claimed the train fire was targeted at the Hindus, who were returning to Ayodhya after a pilgrimage.

A damning report of Mohinder Singh Dahiya, the then assistant director of Gandhinagar’s Forensic Studies Laboratory (FSL), concluded that the coach was set afire by someone “standing in the passage of the compartment near seat number 72, using a container with a wide opening about 60 litres of inflammable liquid has been poured and then a fire has been started in the bogie”.

The accused

The special SIT court on March 1, 2011, convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 in the case. While 11 people were sentenced to death, 20 were handed out life imprisonment.

The court convicted 31 people while accepting the prosecution’s contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident.

All the 31 were convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy. Those acquitted included prime accused Maulana Umarji, the then president of Godhra municipality Mohammad Hussain Kalota, Mohammad Ansari and Nanumiya Chaudhary of Gangapur, Uttar Pradesh.

Later, several appeals were filed in the high court challenging the convictions, while the Gujarat government questioned the acquittal of the 63 people.

The 2002 Gujarat riots

There were SIT probes into the involvement of several political leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi - who was then the Gujarat chief minister - for criminal conspiracy in the riots. Modi and others were cleared after the SIT filed a closure report on February 8, 2012.

Maya Kodnani, the women and child welfare minister in the then Modi government in Gujarat, was sentenced to life in prison for a separate case of rioting in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Patiya area, a verdict she has challenged. She has been on bail since 2014.

Comments

Althaf
 - 
Monday, 9 Oct 2017

When court is controlling by sangh parivar then what verdict we can expect ?? All verdict will be in favor of sangh parivar.

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Agencies
January 22,2020

Kochi, Jan 22: The Left front government in Kerala on Monday decided to inform the Centre it would not cooperate with the updation of the NPR, saying there were fears among the public about the process and it has the "Constitutional responsibility" to alleviate them and ensure law and order.

A special cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here, decided to inform the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Union Home Ministry that it was unable to cooperate with anything with regard to the updation of the NPR.

"The decision was taken as it was the Constitutional responsibility of the government to alleviate the fears of general public and ensure law and order situation in the state," a Chief Minister's Office release said.

However, the state would fully cooperate with the census procedures, it said.

The LDF government, which has been on a warpath against the Centre over the Citizenship Amendment Act, has last month stayed all activities related to updation of NPR, considering 'apprehensions' of public that it would lead to NRC in the wake of the controversial CAA.

"As the NPR is a process that leads to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), there is a sense of fear among the people that its implementation could lead to widespread insecurity", the CMO release said on Monday.

The experience of the state which had already compiled the NRC was an example for this, it added, in apparent reference to Assam.

Kerala had already stopped all procedures regarding the NPR updation, the release said adding there was also a report of the state police that the if the government went ahead with the procedures, it would adversely impact the law and order situation.

The district collectors have also informed the government that the Census procedures would be affected if the updation of the NPR was done along with it, the CMO release said.

The CPI(M)-led LDF government had recently convened a meeting of political parties and socio-religious organisations here on December 29 in the wake of the concerns among people in various stratas of the society, it said.

A special assembly session was convened and a resolution was passed requesting the Centre not to implement the CAA and the government had also approached the apex court against the law, it added.

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Agencies
July 13,2020

Kolkata, July 13: Debendra Nath Roy, a member of the West Bengal legislative assembly (MLA) from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was found dead near his house in north Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on Monday morning.

BJP leaders and his family members have alleged that he was murdered. 

BJP president JP Nadda has expressed “shock” at Roy’s “deplorable and suspected heinous killing” and condemned the incident.

He questioned the rise of “gunda raj” in West Bengal under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s watch amid the worsening law and order in the state, which is slated to hold assembly polls next year, where the BJP is seen to be the primary challenger to the CM’s citadel.

“The suspected heinous killing of Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad in West Bengal, is extremely shocking and deplorable. This speaks volumes of the gunda raj and failure of law and order in the Mamata Banerjee-led government. People will not forgive such a government in the future. We strongly condemn the incident,” he tweeted.

The BJP has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the lawmaker’s unnatural death.

His body was found in the balcony of a shop near his house at Bondol in Hemtabad, Uttar Dinajpur district, on Monday morning.

“The body has been sent for autopsy. We are investigating the case. No one has been detained for questioning or arrested so far,” said a police official from Uttar Dinajpur district, requesting anonymity.

“Roy was murdered. The way his body was found suggests that it was a premeditated murder and the accused tried to pass it off as a suicide. The ruling TMC (Trinamool Congress) is involved in his murder,” alleged Rahul Sinha, national secretary, BJP.

The TMC, however, refuted the BJP’s allegations.

“I heard that he (Roy) died by suicide. Police are investigating the case. Let the truth come out. If he has been murdered, then the culprits should be identified and punished as per law,” said Kanhaiyalal Agarwal, a TMC leader from Uttar Dinajpur district.

BJP leaders said some people had called Roy around 1 am on Monday and he went out of his home. His body was found on Monday morning.

Roy had won the Bengal assembly elections from Hemtabad on a Communist Party of India (Marxist) ticket in 2016, but joined the BJP last year.

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News Network
July 5,2020

New Delhi, Jul 5: World's largest, 10,000-bed Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital (SPCCCH) at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur area of the national capital has made operational on Sunday.

Inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, the facility has been created on an emergency basis by the South Delhi District Administration with support of the Ministry of Home Affairs in a record time of 10 days.
Notably, this coronavirus treatment centre which is set up in Chhatarpur area of the national capital is said to be the "largest" of its kind in the world.
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"The Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital has been developed to help the citizens of Delhi and NCR who are affected by the coronavirus. Our team of doctors and medical staffs will take care of this facility. Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital will have 10 per cent of beds with oxygen facility," the Delhi LG said after the inaugural.
Talking about the facilities at the new coronavirus centre, Baijal further stated, "We have counsellors for mentally traumatised patients. We have a team of good psychiatrists and specialists in medicine."

The facility will function as an isolation centre for mild and asymptomatic COVID positive patients. 10 per cent of the beds will have oxygen facility in case the patient develops severe breathlessness and requires tertiary hospital care, read a statement.

Operationally, the facility has been linked to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital. The referral tertiary care hospitals are Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.

ITBP will be running the first 2,000 beds with their 170 doctors/specialists and more than 700 nurses and paramedics, the statement added.
Most of the basic infrastructure such as beds, mattresses and linen has been donated by various civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations. 

A recreational centre has been made available to the patients along with a library, board games and skipping ropes. People admitted to the facility will be provided five healthy meals a day along with immunity-boosting chawanprash, juices and hot kadha, the statement added.

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