Mumbai, September 8
The special court set up in Mumbai to hear the Best Bakery massacre case said today that it would frame charges afresh on September 15.
Judge Abhay Thipsay of the court directed prosecutor P.R. Vakil to submit the drafts of charges against all 21 accused by September 13. The court further directed that the charges would also have to be framed against those who had absconded after they were held and produced before the court.
The Best bakery case deals with the murder of 14 persons in the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat more than two years ago. All victims were burnt to death when the bakery was set on fire by a mob.
A fast-track court appointed by the Gujarat Government acquitted 21 accused in the case after all witnesses in the case turned hostile. Later, Zahira Sheikh, the prime witness, claimed that she had been threatened and forced to turn hostile in the case.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal of the accused and ordered a retrial in neighbouring Maharashtra.
