Naroda patiya case: Babu Bajrangi gets 7 day-bail, 14th time since conviction
The Vacation Bench of Justice B N Karia partly allowed Bajrangi’s bail plea by giving him seven days relief from jail against 30 days which he had sought.
Babubhai Patel alias Babu Bajrangi, Courtsey: The Indian Express
The Gujarat High Court on Thursday, October 27, three days ago, granted seven days bail to Naroda Patiya convict Babu Bajrangi after he sought relief for treatment of his ailing wife. Just months ago, he had pleaded for lenient treatment because he reportedly stated he was going blind. This is the 14th time that Bajrangi, who is said to have lost his eyesight, has been granted interim bail, mostly on the ground of his own and his wife’s health.
The Vacation Bench of Justice B N Karia partly allowed Bajrangi’s bail plea by giving him seven days relief from jail against 30 days which he had sought. Earlier in May, Justice Karia had granted him bail for seven days on similar ground.
Interestingly, just four months ago, another bench of the Gujarat High Court, had, in June 2016, (the division bench of Justice Harsha Devani and Justice Biren Vaishnav) refused his temporary bail plea, stating, “A perusal of the jail record of the applicant reveals that he has undergone three years, seven months and two days of imprisonment. During the said period, the applicant had availed of temporary bail on as many as 13 occasions.”
While rejecting his plea, the bench had ordered, “Considering the period undergone and the number of times the applicant has availed of temporary bail, the court is not inclined to exercise discretion in favour of the applicant.” In February this year, the same bench had granted him seven days bail for treatment of his eyes.
Bajrangi, an ex-Bajrang Dal leader, was sentenced to life for his role in the Naroda Patiya massacre, along with former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and 29 others, in 2012.Last year, Bajrangi had sought mercy from the Gujarat governor through his wife. He had said that he has lost his eyesight and pleaded to be freed from the jail.
The Curious Case of Maya Kodnani's Bail
The bail applications of Maya Kodnani, once a minister in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat government, had taken curious turn in 2015. She first filed her plea for bail in February 2014. She was first refused bail by the Gujarat High Court and then, inexplicably, granted it by the same court in July 2014. Witness survivors, backed by Citizens for Justice and Peace, then filed a special leave petition challenged the judgement granting her bail. Despite this challenge by survivors backed by CJP to the granting of bail by the High Court, the Supreme Court did not reverse the High Court's decision.
An elected representative in 2002, Kodnani was found guilty by a special court (set up by the Supreme Court) of not only being the kingpin in a conspiracy to launch a physical attack on sections of the minority populace in her constituency, but also of physical presence during the attack; eye witnsees testified to Kodnani instigating the mob at Naroda and even distributing of swords during the brutal attack on the morning of February 28, 2002. Officially, the charge-sheet said 96 persons were killed in Naroda Patiya. This was the single biggest massacre of 2002. The death count of the survivors and human rights groups is closer to 124.
Not long after, another round of drama began: attempts to speed up her appeal in the Gujarat High Court. One such bid in April 2015 year was objected to by survivors in the Supreme Court, as there were reservations about the manner in which the appeal was being rushed through. The Supreme Court listened and the hearing of the appeal was stayed for two months. Then on July 13, 2015 one of the two judges of the division bench assigned to begin hearing the case from that day recused himself, saying ‘not before me’.
Four months later, on July 15, 2015, yet again, there was a unexpected brake to efforts to push through an early hearing of the appeal. A two-member bench of the Gujarat High Court, for the second time, recused itself from hearing appeals in the Naroda Patiya case. This time it was not a simple ‘not before me’. Justices MR Shah and KS Jhaveri stated in open court that while, under normal circumstances, reasons are not given by judges recusing themselves, this time they were constrained to state that some of the accused had approached them. This revealed how far the perpetrators of 2002 were and are ready to go to subvert justice.
Historic Conviction
On August 29, 2012, a day that should be commemorated within India’s human rights movement, 32 persons were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Naroda Patiya case. Judge Jyotsna Yagnik, who delivered that verdict, has been threatened over the past one year (2015, 2016) and the security given to her, withdrawn. Twenty-nine accused people have filed appeals in the Gujarat High Court. This appeal is pending hearing.
Related articles:
1. Judgement in the Naroda Patiya case