On March 1, 2002, two days after the Godhra carnage, a mob attacked Best Bakery in Vadodara, looting and burning it down and killing 14 people. The mob targeted the Muslims inside, including the Shaikh family that ran the bakery.
Additional sessions judge MG Deshpande on Tuesday acquitted Solanki and Gohil of all charges. The detailed order became available on Wednesday.
It dismissed the Gujarat government's amended appeal in the case.
The Supreme Court on Friday admitted the petition filed by the key witness in the case.
An appeal must be filed in a case like this, more particularly when most of the witnesses had turned hostile and the rest of them were not even examined, NHRC chief Justice Anand said.
The development has come as a surprise as great care had been taken to ensure the security of the witnesses in view of Supreme Court directives.
Ahmed Habibullah, an employee of the bakery, identified seven men as those among rioters who tied up bakery workers and torched them.
Also, the Maharashtra police will not ask the Gujarat police to reimburse the cost for their security, as is the norm.
A Mumbai court had on February 24 sentenced nine persons to life imprisonment, holding them guilty of murder of 14 persons by setting Best Bakery afire during the post-Godhra riots.
The Bombay high court on Thursday granted bail to a convict in the 2002 Best Bakery case of Gujarat on medical grounds.
She accused the NGO that was helping her of 'pressurising' her into making statements and naming 'innocent persons' during the ongoing retrial.
Terming as "inadequate" the Rs 2,000 compensation given by the Gujarat government to four key witnesses in the post-Godhra Best Bakery riots case, the Bombay high court on Tuesday hiked it to Rs 3 lakh, considering their "ordeal".
Fourteen people were killed in Best Bakery in Vadodara on March 1, 2002 in wake of the post-Godhra violence.
The court, while refusing to stay the trial in Mumbai, directed the registrar general to submit the report within four months.
The apex court directed that the public prosecutor in the case will be changed and necessary follow up action will be taken for a retrial as well as reinvestigation into the case.
Police feared they might abscond following the Supreme Court ordering a retrial.
Zaheera Sheikh is the prime witness in the Best Bakery case. She is the seventh witness to turn hostile.
Deshmukh's statement came after opposition leader Narayan Rane raised the issue during the adjournment motion.
The trial court asked the Maharashtra and Gujarat governments to resolve their differences by July 5, failing which the matter would be referred to the Supreme Court.
Raees Khan Pathan, 19, who used to prepare biscuits at the bakery, walked up to the accused and identified Sanabhai Baria, Dinesh Rajbhar, Suresh Vasava, Pankaj Gosai and Shailesh Tadvi.
The video was shot by cameraman Gautam Chauhan, who has already deposed before the court.
Kanchanbhai Mali, the 43rd witness in the case, went back on his deposition before the Vadodara court by telling the special court that he had not witnessed any incidents of arson on the ill-fated day.
The Gujarat high court dismissed a revision application challenging the acquittal order filed by Saherabanu Sheikh, sister of witness Zaheera Sheikh.
They were produced before the high court, which released them on bail on a surety of Rs 10,000 each, Police Commissioner S K Sinha said.
The commission will send a team to Vadodara to inspect the records of the case and submit a report.
The state government is believed to be upset with the NHRC for moving the SC for a retrial outside Gujarat.
A former aide of activist Teesta Setalvad has moved the Bombay high court seeking retrial of the 2002 Best Bakery case alleging that the latter not only fabricated evidence and falsely implicated innocent persons but also "managed" the witnesses.
Key witness Zaheera Sheikh had alleged that Waghodia MLA Madhu Srivastav threatened of 'dire consequences' if she testified against him in the trial.
It also asked the Gujarat government to state within four weeks the steps taken against those who were intimidating the witnesses in the case.
The appeal follows a stricture by the Supreme Court
Yasminbanu is the sister-in-law of key witness Zaheera Shaikh, who sought a retrial outside Gujarat.
The Gujarat government's renewed interest in the case may have something to do with the the National Human Rights Commission approaching the Supreme Court for a retrial.
Four convicts of the Best Bakery case have been shifted to the central jail in the city in Vadodra, official sources said on Monday.
In Mumbai court, Zahira and her two brothers turned hostile and did not support the prosecution case saying that they did not see the mob setting the bakery on fire.
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