Gujarat High Court acquits three in 2002 post-Godhra riots case, cites lack of ‘reliable evidence’

Nearly two decades after their conviction, the Gujarat High Court has acquitted three men in a 2002 post-Godhra riots case, ruling that the evidence against them was unreliable and insufficient for conviction.

A Bench of Justice Gita Gopi overturned the May 29, 2006, judgment by a fast-track court in Anand, which had sentenced Sachin Patel, Ashok Patel, and Ashok Gupta to five years of rigorous imprisonment.

“The learned trial court judge had erred in the appreciation of the evidence. The conviction was not based on reliable and corroborative evidence. The identification of the accused has not been proved during the trial,” the High Court said in its order passed on Monday (July 28, 2025).

The case related to violence that broke out a day after two coaches of the Sabarmati Express were set on fire at Godhra station on February 27, 2002, killing 59 people and triggering widespread riots in Gujarat.

According to the prosecution, the three appellants were part of a mob that gathered in a locality in Anand, damaged shops, and set some of them on fire, allegedly violating prohibitory orders issued by the district magistrate under Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act.

Of the nine people who faced trial in the case, four were convicted and given five-year sentences under Indian Penal Code provisions for rioting, arson, and unlawful assembly. One of the convicts died in 2009.

The High Court observed that the prosecution failed to establish whether the appellants were members of an unlawful assembly or had committed acts of arson.

“None of their acts in prosecution of the common object – of setting things on fire and damaging the private and public property – has been proved during the trial,” the court noted.