Ahmedabad, June 2: A Gujarat court today convicted 24 people in the Gulbarg Housing Society massacre but acquitted 36 and exonerated all the accused of conspiracy charges, disappointing the families of the 69 victims.

Sentencing has been set for June 6 in a case that counts as one of the 2002 riots' worst carnages. The case had brought then chief minister Narendra Modi under the scanner of a Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT) that subsequently gave him a clean chit.

Special judge P.B. Desai has convicted 11 people of murder - punishable with a life term or death - and 13 of lesser offences such as looting, rioting and arson, carrying up to 10-year terms.

The Congress called it "half justice", pointing to the acquittal of key accused and BJP politician Bipin Patel, who was the local councillor for the area where the February 28, 2002, massacre happened and is the local councillor now.

Defence counsel Abhay Bhardwaj described the wholesale exoneration from conspiracy charges as a "huge legal victory", claiming this would help defeat efforts to "frame" Modi, now Prime Minister.

But Tanvir Jafri - son of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was burnt alive with 68 others at the Ahmedabad housing complex - said the victims' families would appeal the acquittals after the judgment became available on June 6.

"It was a big society with 15-20 bungalows and 10 apartments with 400-500 occupants. How can 24 people loot and burn the entire society for 24 hours and kill so many people?" he asked. "Witnesses had identified all 60 accused during the trial."

During the trial, the defence had denied conspiracy and claimed the mob had turned violent only after being fired upon by Ehsan.

Tanvir claimed his father had called senior officials and politicians when the mob arrived but received no response.

A petition from Ehsan's widow Zakia and social activist Teesta Setalvad had led the apex court to ask the SIT to probe Modi in connection with a possible larger conspiracy. The SIT's clean chit to Modi prompted a challenge from Zakia and Teesta, which is pending with Gujarat High Court.

Tanvir also pointed to the Naroda Patia case, the riots' worst massacre with 97 killed, where the trial court had held all the 32 convicts guilty of both murder and conspiracy.

A former minister, Maya Kodnani, was handed a 28-year term for the killings, which took place hours after the Gulbarg massacre and just 2km from it.

Altogether 66 people were accused in the Gulbarg case but six died during the trial.

Former Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Atul Vaidya, a doctor by profession, has been convicted of an as-yet-unspecified lesser offence. The then local police inspector, K.G. Erada, has been acquitted.

Public prosecutor R.C. Kodekar said he would seek the death sentence for the 11 people convicted of murder. One of the victims' lawyers, S.N. Vora, said he would argue for imprisonment till death without the possibility of remittance.

"We are not in favour of the death sentence," he said. Vora added that he was satisfied with the verdict but if the victims' families wanted, they could challenge the acquittals in a higher court.

Rajendra Trivedi, defence lawyer and a BJP legislator from Vadodara, said the court had dismissed the charge that three women were raped and murdered during the massacre. He and fellow defence counsel Bhardwaj said they had not charged any fees from the accused.

Nine of the accused were in jail - all of them since 2002 - and the rest were out on bail. Of the nine in custody, eight have been convicted of murder and one of a lesser crime carrying a maximum punishment of 10 years. This man will now be released, having already spent 14 years behind bars.

One of the murder convicts, Kailash Dhobi, had jumped his parole and failed to turn up in the court today. He has been declared "absconding".

No VHP official was present in court. Former Godhra MLA and Bajrang Dal state president Haresh Bhatt, who was, welcomed the verdict.

Zakia vowed to fight on. "I expected all of them to be convicted. How they killed people, how they made them homeless - I saw it myself," she said.

"My fight should have stopped but looking at today's judgment, the fight will continue."

R.K. Raghavan, the former CBI director who had headed the SIT, confessed to being "slightly disappointed" by the verdict. He said the prosecution would consult legal opinion on whether to appeal the judgment.

Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said: "In all such cases, our experience has been that the masterminds somehow manage to get themselves free, and the foot soldiers, the people who take orders, are found guilty."

Additional reporting by PTI