The Supreme Court on Friday gave its assent on hearing the bail applications of 15 convicts of the 2002 Godhra train burning case on December 15.
A bench comprising of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha have asked the Government of Gujarat state to specify the individual roles of the each convict, based on which their applications for bail can be considered.
The bench is aware of the fact that also noted that all of them have undergone 17-18 years of sentence
Appearing for the state of Gujarat, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, said to the bench that the case was not “mere stone-pelting” by the convicts, as the act committed prevented people from escaping the burning train coach leading to many issues including death.
The bail application of convict, Faruk, only could be was listed before the bench.
When the SG asked for adjourning the matter to January, the convict counsel requested the bench to post the matter before vacations, stating that the State was seeking adjournment for the second time.
The Counsels for all the other convicts requested the bench to consider their bail applications as well, saying that there are 15 appellants altogether.
The bench questioned as to why don’t they file bail applications? To which the Counsel said that the bail applications were already filed along with the special leave petitions filed in 2018.
The Solicitor General said that the bail applications were ordered to be heard along with the main appeals.
The Solicitor general added that “If the appeals are set down for hearing, everything can be settled. Main appeals could be listed for hearing
The bench said that it would consider the bail applications first on December 15 before any other thing.