On a day when a retired judge, who had pronounced verdict in Narod Patiya massacre case, complained of threats to her life, two sitting judges have recused themselves from hearing this case.
The two-judge bench consisting of Justice M R Shah and Justice K S Jhaveri said that it had reservations against hearing the case and referred it to the Acting Chief Justice for assigning it to another bench.
These judges told the lawyers that some of the accused persons had tried to approach them.`
Naroda Patiya in Gujarat had witnessed one of the worst massacres in 2002 with more than 100 people being killed by the rioters. 32 people have so far been convicted with the list including several high profile names such as Babu Bajrangi and a former minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet as Gujarat chief minister, Maya Kodnani.
Last week, the court had extended Bajrangi’s bail by 10 days on health ground. Bajrangi and others had filed an appeal against their conviction, which came for hearing last week when these two judges conveyed their intention to recuse themselves from the case.
