DNA Correspondent l Ahmedabad
All 22 accused of the Dipda Darwaja massacre case including then
police inspector MK Patel have filed appeals before the Gujarat high
court challenging the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to them.
“We have filed appeals for 13 convicts in the case challenging the
lower court verdict,” said Ashish Dagli, counsel for the convicts. “We
have submitted in the appeal that there was no case of the body of any
victims being found nor were serious injuries caused to the victims.
Hence life imprisonment under section 307 of IPC not be given to the
accused.”
Designated judge SC Srivastava, on July 31, had awarded life
imprisonment to 21 people convicted in the Dipda Darwaja massacre
case. They were held guilty of attempt to murder, rioting and other
offences. The then police inspector of Visnagar, Patel, was also
convicted in the case and sentenced to one-year imprisonment for
dereliction of duty.
The court, however, gave 61 other accused the benefit of the doubt and
acquitted them while 10 were acquitted for lack of evidence. Prahalad
Gosa, the then BJP MLA from Visnagar, and MT Patel, the then president
of the Visnagar municipality, were also given the benefit of the doubt
and acquitted.
A total of 11 people belonging to the same family were killed and
burnt in the massacre that took place in the Dipda Darwaja locality of
Visnagar town in Mehsana district on February 28, 2002 during the
post-Godhra riots in the state.
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/
All 22 accused of the Dipda Darwaja massacre case including then
police inspector MK Patel have filed appeals before the Gujarat high
court challenging the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to them.
“We have filed appeals for 13 convicts in the case challenging the
lower court verdict,” said Ashish Dagli, counsel for the convicts. “We
have submitted in the appeal that there was no case of the body of any
victims being found nor were serious injuries caused to the victims.
Hence life imprisonment under section 307 of IPC not be given to the
accused.”
Designated judge SC Srivastava, on July 31, had awarded life
imprisonment to 21 people convicted in the Dipda Darwaja massacre
case. They were held guilty of attempt to murder, rioting and other
offences. The then police inspector of Visnagar, Patel, was also
convicted in the case and sentenced to one-year imprisonment for
dereliction of duty.
The court, however, gave 61 other accused the benefit of the doubt and
acquitted them while 10 were acquitted for lack of evidence. Prahalad
Gosa, the then BJP MLA from Visnagar, and MT Patel, the then president
of the Visnagar municipality, were also given the benefit of the doubt
and acquitted.
A total of 11 people belonging to the same family were killed and
burnt in the massacre that took place in the Dipda Darwaja locality of
Visnagar town in Mehsana district on February 28, 2002 during the
post-Godhra riots in the state.
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/
