'Celebrate or…': Kapil Sibal reacts to 2022 Naroda Gam case verdict

Kapil Sibal reacted to a Gujarat special court's order to acquit all the 67 accused in the Naroda Gam massacre case of 2002 post-Godhra.

Top lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal reacted to a Gujarat special court's verdict to acquit all the 67 accused in the Naroda Gam massacre case of 2002 post-Godhra, asking if "we should celebrate the rule of law or despair its demise".

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal.(PTI file)

More than two decades after 11 Muslim community members were killed in the post-Godhra riots in Ahmedabad's Naroda Gam, a special court on Thursday acquitted all the 67 accused in the case, including former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani and ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi.

“Naroda Gam : 11 of our citizens including a 12 year old girl killed. After 21 years 67 accused acquitted. Should we : Celebrate the rule of law or Despair its demise !” Sibal tweeted.

While a lawyer of the victims' families said the judgment will be challenged before the Gujarat high court because "justice was denied" to them, accused and their relatives termed the verdict, which came more than 21 years after the incident, as a "victory of truth".

The Ahmedabad-based court of S K Baxi, special judge for Special Investigation Team (SIT) cases, acquitted all the 67 accused in one of the worst massacres witnessed during the state-wide riots triggered by the Sabarmati train carnage on February 27, 2002, after a trial spanning 13 years and half a dozen judges. The Naroda Gam case was probed by a Supreme Court-appointed SIT. A detailed judgment is expected to be made available in the coming days.