New Delhi, April 24 (HS): The Supreme Court will hear the Godhra train fire case from 2002 on May 6 and 7. A bench headed by Justice JK Maheshwari has issued this order.

The court instructed senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for one of the convicted persons in the case, to file a detailed affidavit by May 3 regarding this matter. In addition to the Gujarat government, several convicted individuals have challenged the Gujarat High Court's decision. The Gujarat government has stated that it is seeking the death penalty for the 11 convicts whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.

On February 27, 2002, a fire was set in the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express returning from Ayodhya, resulting in the death of 58 people. The Sabarmati Express was carrying 'karsevaks' from Ayodhya. Following this incident in Godhra, communal riots occurred in Gujarat.

In this case, the trial court had convicted 31 individuals in 2011. Among them, 11 received the death penalty while 20 were sentenced to life imprisonment. 63 other accused were acquitted in this case. In 2017, the Gujarat High Court commuted the death sentences of the 11 convicts to life imprisonment and upheld the life sentences of the 20 others.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar