Gujarat HC rejects Maya Kodnani's bail plea

Ahmedabad, Mar 27 (ANI): The Gujarat High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail of Gujarat Women Development and Child Welfare Minister Maya Kodnani.Kodnani, who is accused for having led a mob in the post-Godhra riots in 2002, had seeked a stay in the judgement for a period of six weeks.

The Gujarat high court on Monday had reserved its order on the application filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) challenging the anticipatory bail granted to Kodnani, and VHP leader Jaideep Patel.

Justice DH Waghela also heard the applications filed by three witnesses of the 2002 riots cases seeking to join as party in the application submitted by the SIT.

Appearing for the witnesses, lawyers Mukul Sinha and SH Iyer submitted that 28 people affected by the riots had filed complaints before the police in 2002 when they were in the Shah Alam relief camp, out of which two had named Kodnani and around 20 had named Patel.

The lawyer submitted that the police had omitted the names of the two leaders in the clubbed FIR.

The SIT also refuted allegations raised by Kodnani's counsel, Mahesh Jethmalani, that the SIT had been working with "mala fide" intentions to tarnish her image.

Kodnani, a three-time MLA from the Naroda constituency is an accused in the Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya massacre cases in which around 95 people were killed in the communal violence of 2002. (ANI)