Maya Kodnani acquitted in Naroda Patiya case by Gujarat HC
Today in Naroda Patiya case, Gujarat High Court has acquitted Ms Maya Kodnani former state minister giving benefit of doubt, in absence of police witnesses confirming the charge that she had provoked a Hindu mob. They also said that she had been charged much later – only after a SIT Special Investigation Team had taken over the probe into the riots.
She was among 32 convicts who had appealed to the Gujarat high court against their 2012 sentences.30 others received life sentences for their part in the riots in Naroda Patiya, a suburb of Ahmedabad.
In the riots 1,000 people, mostly Muslims were found dead.
The rioting began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a train Sabarmati Express fire blamed on Muslims in the town of Godhra.
Ms Kodnani was not a minister at the time of the riots, but was appointed junior minister for WCD women and child development .
She quit her post when she was arrested in 2009 in connection with the massacre but remained a member of the state assembly.
