Jun
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Best Bakery Retrial Set for June
June 5, 2004 | Comments Off on Best Bakery Retrial Set for June
On June 7, a sessions court in Bombay will begin the retrial of the Best Bakery case, arising from the murders of 12 Muslims during the Gujarat pogroms of 2002:
The Additional Sessions Judge, Abhay Thipsay, has been appointed by the Bombay High Court to conduct the re-trial. P.A. Kamat, registrar in-charge for the Sewri Sessions Court, said that telegrams had been sent to the Chief Secretary of Gujarat as well as other departments about this. According to the Supreme Court’s order, the re-trial should be taken up on a day-to-day basis, and completed by the end of December 2004. The 21 accused would have to be produced in the court as well. However, the public prosecutor for the re-trial is yet to be appointed.
The petitioners in the case are currently in consultation with the Gujarat government regarding the appointment of the public prosecutor.
The Maharashtra government will provide free accommodation and security to witnesses. The Supreme Court had directed the Gujarat government in its April 12 order to ensure the open and secure testimony of witnesses in court:
The state government will not seek re-imbursement from the Gujarat towards the security and accomodation cost, [home minister R R] Patil added. The case, which has rattled the nation’s conscience, will soon be taken up by a special court in Maharashtra.
The Gujarat judge who acquitted the 21 accused in the Best Bakery case, leading to the Supreme Court’s ordering of the retrial outside of Gujarat, has been appointed to a lucrative Gujarat government position. H.U. Mahida will now serve as legal advisor to the Gujarat Electricity Board.
A Times of India article further analyzes the Gujarat bill recently passed in the Assembly to continue the draconian provisions of POTA. In addition to its failure to describe what constitutes organized crime, the bill extends the minimum imprisonment for harboring a terrorist to five years (compared to POTA’s three years), and removes the distinction between voluntary, among other things.
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