Best Bakery case

TWENTY-ONE years after 14 persons were killed when a mob attacked and burnt down Best Bakery in Vadodara during the post-Godhra riots, a sessions court in Mumbai has acquitted Harshad Solanki and Mafat Gohil, who were facing charges of murder, destruction of evidence and attempt to murder. One shoddy investigation after another by the police has led to miscarriage of justice in this case, which has witnessed many twists and turns over the past two decades.

The Gujarat Police had booked 21 persons on the charge of murder, but all the accused were acquitted by a fast-track court in 2003 after the prime witnesses turned hostile. Notably, the court had expressed dissatisfaction with the probe and also rapped the police for the delay in filing the FIR. The 2003 verdict was upheld by the Gujarat High Court, forcing the bakery owner’s daughter, Zahira Sheikh, to move the Supreme Court. In 2004, the apex court had ordered a reinvestigation by the police and a fresh trial in Maharashtra instead of Gujarat in the interests of justice and fairness. The sessions court in Mumbai convicted nine persons in February 2006. However, in 2012, the Bombay High Court acquitted five of those convicted, citing lack of evidence.

Both Solanki and Gohil who were also accused of involvement in the 2007 Ajmer blasts remained absconding for several years before they were finally arrested. The police, however, failed miserably in building an airtight case against the duo. The role of the police and the prosecution has left much to be desired, to say the least. Also, no probe was initiated to nail the influential persons who allegedly used allurements to make witnesses change their testimony. Why the case was never handed over to the CBI is another unanswered question. The acquittal is another shocking setback for the Gujarat riot victims after last year’s controversial release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.