| Posted By:jasmin On 3/11/2006 |
|
I am satisfied: Teesta Setalvad
Special Correspondent
Judge has conducted the retrial in a fair and transparent manner, she
says
----------------------------------------------------
Supreme Court ordered re-trial on April 12, 2004
Four eyewitnesses, not examined during trial, produced
----------------------------------------------------
MUMBAI: The Best Bakery case was the first case related to communal
violence that had been transferred to another state for retrial.
After the fast track court in Vadodara acquitted 21 people in the
case on June 27, 2003, Zahira Sheikh, one of the main eyewitnesses,
approached Ms. Teesta Setalvad of Citizens For Justice and Peace
(CJP) to take up her cause.
"I am very satisfied with the outcome. It is a judicial vindication
of our demand for a retrial," Ms. Setalvad said on Friday, after the
judgment. She said that the judge ha d conducted the retrial in a fair
and transparent manner and took it to its logical conclusion.
The case relates to the incident on the night of March 1, 2002, when
an armed mob attacked Best Bakery in Hanuman Tekri area of Vadodara
and set it ablaze, killing 12 persons including four children. Two
others were also burnt to death in the incident but their bodies were
not found. Zahira's sister, Sabira perished in the incident along
with her uncle and other relatives. Some workers in the bakery were
also killed by the mob.
Zahira and her family were among the 37 witnesses who had turned
hostile. She and her mother Sehrunissa later said the family was
threatened against giving evidence by BJP legislator Madhu Srivastav.
Zahira had also testified before the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) as well as the then Chief Election Commissioner, James
Lyngdoh. After the NHRC and the CJP filed a special leave petit ion in
the Supreme Court, the apex court on April 12, 2004, ordered a re-
trial of the case in Mumbai.
The apex court had ordered a day-to-day trial, which was to be
completed by December 31, 2004. Additional Sessions Judge Mr. Abhay
Thipsay was appointed to conduct the retrial at a special court in
Mazgaon in South Mumbai. Four extensions were sought, the last of
which was to end on February 28.
The charge sheet in the retrial was filed on September 22 and it
began on October 4, 2004. Seventy-five witnesses were examined, seven
of whom, turned hostile. Over 3,000 pages of evidence were recorded.
In the trial in Gujarat, 73 witnesses were examined but the
prosecution neither kept the investigation officer P.P. Kanani
informed about the case nor did it call the bakery workers who were
eyewitnesses to testify.
In the re-trial too, Zahira and her family turned hostile and on
November 2, she held a press confere nce in Vadodara where she accused
Ms. Setalvad of coercing her and her family at knifepoint to press
charges against the accused. The re-trial was marked by much court
room drama with Zahira, her mother and sister Sahira refusing to
testify along with her brothers Nasibullah and Nafitullah.
However, special public prosecutor, Manjula Rao, said that this did
not mar the case in any way and she had managed to produce four
eyewitnesses who worked at the bakery who had not been examined at
Vadodara. The evidence given by Zahira's sister-in-law, Yasmin, the
first wife of Nafitullah, was contested by the defence saying she was
not present on March 1.
The common thread in both trials was that the same charge sheet was
used and witnesses turned hostile in both places. However, in Mumbai,
only Zahira's family and two panchas turned hostile. Ms. Setalvad
said there would have been a 100 per cent conviction if Zahira and
her family had supported the case. "It's a big game being played by
the Gujarat government. At least we have ensured the due process of
law has been followed," she added.
Adhik Shirodkar, senior counsel, said that an appeal would be filed
as soon as they get a copy of the full order. He said the appeal
could be filed in Gujarat as only the re-trial has been transferred
to Mumbai. Mr. Thipsay said that it could take up to a month to
transcribe the whole order.
|
|
Articles
Home Page