Gulberg Society case: court fixes June 17 as date for punishment

In all, 69 people, including Congress parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri, were killed in the massacre during post Godhra riots

The special sessions court in Ahmedabad on Monday fixed the date for pronouncing quantum of punishment for the 24 convicts in the Gulberg Society massacre case on June 17.

On Friday, the special investigation team (SIT) court heard defence and prosecution arguments before stating that it would fix the date on Monday. While the defence had demanded minimum punishment for the convicts, the prosecution had sought at least life in jail for those found guilty of murder.

In all, 69 people including Congress parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri, were killed in the Gulberg Society massacre during the post Godhra riots.

Last week, while 24 people were convicted in the 14-year-old case including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Atul Vaidya, 36 people, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Bipin Patel were acquitted.

The defence counsel had argued against capital punishment and sought lighter punishment on the grounds of the court ruling out the conspiracy angle in the massacre case.

However, post conviction on June 2, Jafri's wife Zakia had termed the same as "justice half delivered", stating that she would move higher courts.

On February 28, 2002, a mob carrying weapons attacked a cluster of bungalows and apartments in the said society, a day after Hindu activists were killed when a coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt in nearby Godhra.