Godhra tragedy: Guj HC reduces death sentence of 11 to life term

News Network
October 9, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 9: The Gujarat high court (HC) on Monday reduced to 'life in prison' the death sentence given to 11 convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case.

A special trial court had on March 1, 2011, convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 of setting ablaze a coach of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002 at Godhrastation. Of the 31 convicts, 11 were sentenced to death and 20 were given life in prison for All the convicts had appealed their conviction.

On Monday, a division bench of justice AS Dave and justice GR Udhaari upheld life imprisonment for the 20 other convicts in the case and refused to alter the acquittal order for 63 accused.

Further, it observed that the state government and the Railways failed miserably in maintaining law and order during the 2002 incident.

The HC then directed the government and the Railways to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the families of those killed in the Godhra train burning incident.

In 2011, the 63 persons the Gujarat HC acquitted included Maulana Hussain Umarji, who was dubbed by the Gujarat police as the 'mastermind' of the carnage. Out of over 130 accused persons, 94 could be put on trial before the trial court. Even after the trialcourt delivered its verdict on February 22, 2011, some of the accused were nabbed and put on trial.

The Gujarat government and the special investigation team that probed the incident had sought confirmation from the Gujarat high court to the death sentence given to 11 by the trial court. The government also demanded the maximum punishment for the 20 people given life imprisonment. Besides, it questioned the acquittal of 63 persons. The kin of the fire victims' too have sought death for all accused persons.

As many as 59 passengers including many 'kar sevaks' returning from Ayodhya were killed in coach S 6 of the Sabarmati Express when a violent mob attacked the train near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002. The incident sparked state wide sectarian violence that claimed the lives of nearly 1,200 over two months.

Comments

Ramesh Bhat
 - 
Monday, 9 Oct 2017

Its not tragedy... Its riot with intention

Reshma
 - 
Monday, 9 Oct 2017

I have only one relief, Modi doing everything (petrol  price hike, lies about army, scams, gst, demonetisation) for our nation's progress

Naveen Bhandary
 - 
Monday, 9 Oct 2017

No hope in Modi govt. People made big mistake by electing him

Mohan
 - 
Monday, 9 Oct 2017

Feku's rule... Feku's place and Feku's people

Unknown
 - 
Monday, 9 Oct 2017

That place itself showing how the verdict is. 

Althaf
 - 
Monday, 9 Oct 2017

Verdict in favor of sangh parivar. Justice is blind 

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News Network
April 15,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 15: Bengaluru Commissioner of Police, Bhaskar Rao, said that prohibitory order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973, will remain in place for all parts of the City Commissionerate till April 20.

Section 144 of CrPC prohibits the assembly of four or more people in an area.

"Prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC will remain in force, in all parts of the Bengaluru City Commissionerate for a period up to 12 am of April 20 with effect from 12 am of April 14," according to Rao.

Karnataka, so far, has 258 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 9 deaths being reported due to the infection, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Jaipur, Mar 11: A 85-year-old man in Jaipur, who had returned from Dubai on February 28, has tested positive for coronavirus, a state government official said on Wednesday.

He was found presumptive positive in the first test on Tuesday and hence, a second test was conducted with fresh samples, the reports of which arrived late Tuesday night, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh, said.

“The man who travelled to Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus. It has been confirmed now,” Singh said.

“We have also got the manifest of the Spicejet flight he took from Dubai to Jaipur and are doing due diligence on that,” the official said, adding that intense contact tracing was underway.

The man has been kept in isolation at the SMS Hospital here.

“The man came to the hospital on Monday with symptoms of the virus. After the first test, his wife and son too have been kept in isolation at the hospital. The two, however, do not have coronavirus affliction symptoms,” Singh said.

A total of 235 people who came in contact with the octogenarian and his family have already been traced and are being monitored, he said.

Other contacts are also being traced, Singh added.

An Italian couple, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, are also admitted in the hospital but their condition is improving, he said.

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Agencies
June 29,2020

Tehran, Jun 29: Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, a local prosecutor reportedly said Monday.

While Trump faces no danger of arrest, the charges underscore the heightened tensions between Iran and the United States since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and more than 30 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad face “murder and terrorism charges,” the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends.

Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran requested a “red notice” be put out for Trump and the others, which represents the highest level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities end up making the arrests on behalf of the country that request it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects’ travel.

After receiving a request, Interpol meets by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public, though some do get published on its website.

It is unlikely Interpol would grant Iran’s request as its guideline for notices forbids it from “undertaking any intervention or activities of a political” nature.

The U.S. killed Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, and others in the January strike near Baghdad International Airport. It came after months of incidents raising tensions between the two countries and ultimately saw Iran retaliate with a ballistic missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq.

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