The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday granted bail to three people who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhra train burning case which had triggered communal riots in State.
A two-judge bench of Justice Aqeel Qureshi and Justice RP Dholaria granted bail to Irfan Pada, Suleiman Pir and Qasim Abdul Sattar alias ‘Qasim Biryani’, who were given life imprisonment, while also rejecting bail applications of eleven others awarded life imprisonment.
They also submitted that they had been in jail for the last 11 years and a hearing on appeals against their conviction may take a long time, their advocate IH Syed said. They contended that Abdul Majid, one of those convicted, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on the ground that hearing his appeal may take time.