'I'am glad justice was served', says Maya Kodnani

Former Gujarat Minister Maya Kodnani, who was acquitted in the Naroda Patiya massacre case said that she was innocent and had been proven so by the court.

"I am glad that justice was served. Bhagwan ke ghar mein der hai andher nahi. I knew that I am innocent and I would come out of this," she said.

The court acquitted 18 persons, including Kodnani. One person died during the hearing. Kodnani, who's out on bail at present, was acquitted as the HC found statements of 11 witnesses in contradiction to each other.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Harsha Devani and Justice A S Supehia said there was absence of sufficient proof of her presence at the crime scene.

Kodnani is among 82 accused in the Naroda Gam case in which 11 Muslims were killed on February 28, 2002, a day after the Sabarmati Express was torched at the Godhra railway station, killing 59 on board coach S-6, mostly kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya. She is accused of conspiracy, murder among other charges in the Naroda Gam case.

In August 2012, Kodnani was convicted in the Naroda Patiya riots case, and sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment. The special SIT court had indicted her as the 'kingpin' of the riots.

She was granted bail on health grounds in July 2014, and was out of jail since. Her conviction was overturned by the high court owing to lack of evidence against her.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)