GUJARAT GENOCIDE UNPARALLELED IN MODERN HISTORY: HC

Gujarat High Court, in a ruling on a bail plea, termed the 2002 Gujarat genocide as a carnage “unparalleled in modern history” and observed that such crimes undermine the very foundation of rule of law.  While rejecting a bail plea of an accused in the Naroda Patia case, Justice Abhilasha Kumari observed that the massacre cannot be compared to any ordinary case, as its effect on the people cannot be overlooked. “In fact, this is a case of wanton, mass carnage almost unparalleled in modern history. Such offences invariably have a negative impact upon the larger interest of public and the state, and undermine the very foundation upon which the edifice of rule of law is built,” the judge said in the order, refusing bail to Subhashchandra Darji. Darji was working at the central workshop of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation near Naroda Patia and was found throwing burning rags on Hussain Nagar, where 58 people were killed. Earlier while cancelling Maya Kodnani’s anticipatory bail in the Naroda Patia and Naroda Gam killings, Justice D H Waghela observed that those who had played a role in rudely disrupting the lives of millions eking out their living in harmony in a progressive, secular democratic republic of India must be brought to book. He quoted the SC in denouncing riots and wrote, “Religious fanatics really don’t belong to any religion. They are no better than terrorists who kill innocent people for no rhyme or reason.”