Twitterati have erupted with anger after a special SIT judge hearing the 2002 Naroda Gam pogrom case was abruptly transferred as principal district judge of Valsad. Former cabinet colleague of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat, Maya Kodnani, was a key accused in the case.
Dave, according to a notification from the Gujarat High Court, has been transferred as the principal judge of the Valsad district. Dave’s transfer order arrived just when he was in the midst of concluding the hearing in the Naroda Gam pogrom case.
His successor, SK Baxi, who served as a principal district judge, Bhavnagar, before being transferred here, may have to hear the final argument all over again.
11 Muslims were massacred in Naroda Gam area of Ahmedabad during the 2002 pogrom. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat then. As many as 82 people including Kodnani are facing the trial. Kodnani was the minister for women and child development in Modi’s cabinet then.
No sooner did the news of judge Dave’s transfer come in, social media erupted in anger with many accusing Modi of having turned into a banana republic.
Another judge is transferred. Without a doubt @narendramodi turned India into a banana republic. Courts & judges are controlled by #HindutvaTerrorists of @BJP4India & #RSS_Is_Terrorist_Organization
Judge Hearing Gujarat’s Naroda Riots Case Transferredhttps://t.co/GTG6bSbdsZ
— سَيِّدْ (@SaiyidSays) March 8, 2020
Ahmedabad:
Eighteen years after the 2002 riots and 11 years after the court began the trial in the Naroda Gam massacre case, when the trial was on the verge of completion,
the SIT judge, M K Dave, has been transferred.Jai Shri Ram
— Indur Chhugani (@IndurChhugani) March 8, 2020
Maya Kodnani ‘achieved’ the post of MoS in Gujarat govt by doing “great work” in sectors like Naroda Patitya and Naroda Gam during 2002 Gujarat riots by inciting mobs.
So, to celebrate Maya Kodnani’s “achievements”, the judge who was hearing the case against her has been removed https://t.co/rImCH1miyJ
— Ravi Nair (@t_d_h_nair) March 8, 2020
The latest development comes just days after Justice S Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court the day he came down heavily on the Delhi Police for not acting tough against BJP leaders whose hate speeches led to an anti-Muslim pogrom in Delhi, killing 53 people.