Fast track court judge H U Mahida, who had acquitted all the 21 accused in the Best Bakery case, has declined the post of honorary legal advisor to the Gujarat Electricity Board citing "personal reasons".
Talking to PTI in Vadodara, Mahida said he had sent his letter of refusal to the GEB on June 5.
"I am 64 years old and this job involves a lot of strenuous work, including everything related to the legality of
tenders, matters of staff and other such things," Mahida said. "Since the GEB is going to be bifurcated into six
companies, the workload will be even more."
Mahida was earlier the additional district and sessions judge, a member of the Railway Tribunal Claims from 1994 to 1999 and was appointed as fast-track court judge in January 2002.
Mahida further said he wanted to "enjoy retired life".
"I may also go to my native place at Rajpipla, near the Sardar
Mahida said he had applied for the GEB post and was interviewed by top bureaucrats in the board, after which he was
appointed.
Member of GEB administration Guruprasad Mohapatra told PTI that Mahida had been appointed after due procedure, in which five of the 12 applicants were shortlisted. The post had been lying vacant for two years.
Fourteen persons were charred to death in Best Bakery on March 1, 2002, during the Gujarat riots and the acquittal of 21 persons by Mahida had sparked off a controversy, leading to the Supreme Court ordering a re-trial of the case outside Gujarat.
