The Supreme Court will hear on Friday the National Human Rights Commission's petition seeking a fresh trial outside Gujarat in five riot cases, including the Best Bakery case in which the trial court acquitted all the 21 accused.

The NHRC petition is listed for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India V N Khare.

In an extraordinary move, the NHRC had on July 31 approached the apex court seeking fresh trial in the cases.

The decision followed acquittal of all the 21 accused in the Best Bakery case by a fast track court in Vadodara and the public outcry following statements by two witnesses,

Sehrunissa and her daughter Zaheera Shaikh that they had lied in court out of fear while giving evidence in the case.

The four other cases that the NHRC wants to be tried outside the state are the Godhra train burning incident, which triggered statewide riots, the Chamanpura (Gulbarga Society) killings, the Naroda Patia incident and the incident in Sadarpura in Mehsana district.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Thursday filed an appeal in the high court challenging the June 27, 2003 order of a fast track court in Vadodara in the Best Bakery case.

The Gujarat Riots: Complete Coverage
More reports from Gujarat