The prosecution is likely to seek capital punishment for the 11 convicted who were charged with murder, while the lawyer of victims may seek life imprisonment for them.
The court said it has decided to award imprisonment for life without any time frame to the 11, who have been convicted for murder, while requesting the state not to use its power to remit the sentence after 14 years of imprisonment.
Ashish Pandey was arrested from Aslali locality by Crime Branch sleuths.
Of the 24 convicted, 11 have been convicted for murder and 13 for other charges.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused grant bail to one of the accused in the Gulberg Society massacre case of 2002 Gujarat riots in which former Congress Member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri and 67 others were killed, saying it has asked the lower court to conclude trial in three months.
Zakia Jafri, the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed along with 68 others in the Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad during the Gujarat riots of 2002, visited the Gulberg society on the 21st anniversary of the massacre on February 28, 2023.
Kailash Dhobi is one of 11 persons convicted for murder and other offences, and is listed as accused number 1 by the SIT in the Gulberg society case in which 69 persons, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed.
Former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri and 68 others were killed in the incident during 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.
Social activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been fighting for the victims of Gulberg Society, said they will study the judgement in depth and appeal in a higher court.
The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team has found no evidence against Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 57 others in the complaint filed against them by Zakia Jafri in the 2002 Gujarat riots, a magisterial court said on Tuesday.
'Since 2002, we have not received any justice and we are still fighting for it.'
As many as eight rounds were fired from Jafri's gun, killing one and injuring 15, the order said.
Pleading for maximum punishment, the prosecution said capital punishment could be considered by the court or the convicts be sent to jail and ordered to remain there till their last breath.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a order entitling slain Congress MP Ehsan Jafri's wife Zakia Jafri to obtain the entire probe report submitted by Special Investigation Team in the 2002 Gulberg Society riots case.
The court had concluded the arguments on quantum of sentence on Friday last week after taking into consideration submissions made by both the prosecution and defence lawyers as well as the lawyer of the victims.
Following is the timeline of events in the case in which the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots in the state.
On Monday, prosecution had sought death penalty for all the 24 people convicted for the gruesome killings.
Kin of the 2002 Gulberg Society massacre victims and eye-witnesses on Saturday contested a special court's conclusion that firing by former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri acted as a catalyst for mob fury.
Apart from the Naroda Gam case, seven other 2002 post-Godhra riots cases were investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team.
However, her son Tanveer Jafri said there was definitely 'some sense of closure' at the convictions but it would have to be seen why some of the accused were not convicted.
"Whose money is this? From where did the money in these bank accounts have come," a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked the counsel for Setalvad.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked a trial court in Ahmedabad to wind up within three months the proceedings in Gulberg Society massacre case of 2002 Gujarat riots in which former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri and 67 others were killed.
Zakia, the wife of Ehsan Jafri, an ex-MP who was killed in one of the worst incidents during the riots, has challenged the Gujarat high court's October 5, 2017, order rejecting her plea against the SIT's decision.
A sessions court had recently rejected her discharge plea in the case, even as the Supreme Court granted her bail after the Gujarat high court denied her relief.
The bench hailed the work done so far by the SIT and allowed the request of Salve, while asking A K Malhotra, another member of the SIT, to oversee the functioning of the probe team.
Rohatgi was the country's attorney general from June 2014 to June 2017.
Communal violence is like a lava erupting from a volcano which scars the ground it touches, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court on Wednesday while arguing for Zakia Jafri who has challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 persons including Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots there.
Zakia Jafri, wife of 2002 post-Godhra riots victim and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, on Monday filed a protest petition in a local court seeking rejection of the Special Investigation Team report giving a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in the Gulberg Society riot case.
Narendra Modi's opponents must respect the legal system; otherwise they risk damaging the very cause they protect, says Rohit Pradhan.
Narendra Modi's opponents must respect the legal system; otherwise they risk damaging the very cause they protect, says Rohit Pradhan.
Now, the chief justice of the high court will allot the case to a new judge.
Terming the clean chit by the Special Investigation Team to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gulberg Society case a "big relief", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said ten years of vilification against its leader should stop now.
A group of activists will mark the tenth anniversary of the Godhra carnage and the ensuing communal riots in Gujarat at the memorial at Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28.
The state government had opposed his bail plea saying the alleged offence is a "very heinous crime" and there is a prima-facie case against him and the role attributable to him in support of the charge.
The Supreme Court on Friday appreciated the Special Investigation Team for the 'indefatigable work' done in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases, saying it has come out with 'flying colours unscathed' and there is no hesitation in accepting its opinion that no case has been made out to indicate a larger conspiracy to cause or precipitate mass violence against the minority community in the state.
'The lesson you taught was that you will free the murderers of Bilkis' three-year-old daughter. You also taught us that Ahsan Jafri can be killed. You taught the lesson of Gulbarga bakery, you taught the lesson of Best bakery lesson'
Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots. Zakia Jafri, his wife, had filed the petition challenging the special investigation team's report giving a clean chit to Modi and 63 others.
Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed at Gulberg society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002 during the violence, has challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 persons including Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots in the state.
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday fixed for hearing on April 13 the plea of Zakia Jafri, wife of slain member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, challenging the SIT's clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots, saying it would not entertain any request of adjournment on the next date.
The special investigation team had not conducted any probe on the alleged larger conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots and there was an effort to 'protect' and ensure that people from the Bajrang Dal, police, bureaucracy and others are not prosecuted, Zakia Jafri told the Supreme Court on Thursday.
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