Zahira Sheikh: New hope

New Delhi, Jan. 30: The Best Bakery massacre case was revived today with the Supreme Court admitting an appeal against the Gujarat High Court verdict that had upheld the acquittal of all 21 accused.

A division bench of Justices Doraiswamy Raju and Arijit Pasayat issued notices to the Gujarat government on the appeal of Zahira Sheikh, who had earlier deposed that she had turned a hostile witness under duress and has now challenged the high court order upholding the acquittal.

This is the first time in a criminal case that the apex court has admitted the appeal of a victim directly instead of the prosecution having to come on appeal.

The prosecution would also file an appeal, said additional solicitor-general Mukul Rohtagi appearing for the Gujarat government.

Rohtagi’s submissions came before another bench presided over by Chief Justice V.. Khare that is monitoring the trial proceedings in all Gujarat-riot related cases following a petition by the National Human Rights Commission.

“The Gujarat government has decided to prefer an appeal before the Supreme Court in the Best Bakery case in the form of a special leave petition within one week,” Rohtagi told the bench. The prosecution maintains that during the riots a mob set fire to the bakery at Vadodara, resulting in the death of 14 people.

Zahira in her petition said the Best Bakery case was a classic example of “miscarriage of justice” at all levels. She contended through senior counsel Kapil Sibal that “the investigation was defective, the witnesses were not protected, the public prosecutor glossed over his job of effective representation of the victims and the judge mechanically applied his mind to the facts of the case”.

Sibal argued that the Best Bakery case was a “fit case for retrial”, which was declined by the high court.

“The prosecution witnesses, who are victims of the ghastly offence, were all throughout threatened by the accused and their relatives and ultimately they had to succumb to the pressure from the accused side, more particularly because they had close relatives in the ruling political party,” the petition said.

While Justices Raju and Pasayat issued notices on this petition, the bench headed by Chief Justice Khare heard amicus curiae Harish Salve on a bunch of petitions filed by the human rights panel, danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and other social activists, including Supreme Court lawyer Umed Singh Gulia.

This monitoring bench directed the Gujarat government to supply relevant data sought by Salve within three weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on February 27.

The Gujarat government plea to vacate the stay on the trial proceedings of the Godhra train-burning case is slated to be heard on February 16.

The apex court also issued notices to the Gujarat government on a petition filed by social activists Teesta Setalvad and Mihir Desai seeking expungement of certain remarks made against them by Gujarat High Court in the December judgment.

The bench of Justices Raju and Pasayat also issued notices to the Gujarat government on a petition challenging bail to accused in cases of rioting at Kodinar in Gujarat in September.

Petitioner Hasanbhai V. Qureshi said police had arrested 53 people for looting and torching shops belonging to members of the minority community. However, the trial court had granted bail to some of them and the high court had dismissed the appeal seeking quashing of the bail, the petition said.