Godhra Train Burning Case : Supreme Court Posts Appeals For Hearing In January 2025, Says No More Adjournments

The Supreme Court today (September 26) has kept a batch of appeals in the Godhra train burning case to be heard for a final hearing in the third week of January 2025.

A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal was hearing criminal appeals filed by the convicts of the 2002 Godhra train burning carnage against the judgment of the Trial Court and Gujarat High Court convicting them. The Gujarat Government has also filed some separate appeals challenging the commutation of the sentence of the accused from the death penalty to life sentence by the High Court. The appeals have been spending since 2018.

While adjourning the matter today, the Court stated that they would not adjourn the matter anymore. It pointed out that the matter will at least take "three days".  

The crime which took place on February 27, 2002, resulted in the killing of 58 persons in a fire inside the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express, which was carrying kar sevaks (Hindu volunteers) from Ayodhya. The Godhra carnage triggered communal riots in Gujarat.

In March 2011, the Trial Court convicted 31 persons, of whom 11 were sentenced to death and the remaining 20 were awarded life in prison. 63 other accused were acquitted. In 2017, the Gujarat High Court commuted the death sentence of 11 to life term and upheld the life sentence awarded to the other 20.

On May 13, 2022, the Supreme Court granted one of the convicts, Abdul Raheman Dhantiya @ Kankatto @Jamburo, interim bail for six months on the ground that his wife was suffering from terminal cancer and that his daughters were mentally challenged. On November 11, 2022, the Court extended his bail till March 31, 2023.

On December 15, the Supreme Court granted bail to a convict named Farook, sentenced to life in the Godhra carnage case, considering he had undergone 17 years sentence and that his role was related to stone-pelting at the train. In April 2023, bail was granted to 8 life convicts by the Supreme Court. 

In August 2023, the Supreme Court bench of Justices denied bail to Saukat Yusuf Ismail Mohan @ Bibino, Siddik @ Matunga Abdullah Badam-Shaikh and Bilal Abdullah Ismail Badam Ghanchi considering the specific roles attributed to them.

Case Title: Abdul Raheman Dhantiya @ Kankatto @Jamburo vs State of Gujarat Criminal Appeal 517/2018 and others.