2002 Best Bakery Case: Mumbai Court acquits 2 accused in case
The 2002 Best Bakery incident is referred as a gruesome incident of communal violence that took place in Gujarat during the post-Godhra riots in 2002. On March 1, 2002, the Best Bakery, a popular bakery in Vadodara, was attacked, resulting in the deaths of 14 people
FollowA Mumbai sessions court on Tuesday (June 13) acquitted two persons - Harshad Raoji Solanki and Mafat Manilal - in 2002 Best Bakery case that took place during the Gujarat riots in which 14 persons died, including women and children.
As many as 21 people were charged with murder in this case. All were acquitted by the local court at Gujarat in this case. In order to ensure fair trail, Supreme Court transferred this case to Maharashtra.
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In 2006, a Mumbai court found nine people guilty on several charges including murder, and were sent to life imprisonment. In 2012, the Bombay High Court acquitted five of the nine accused, while confirming punishment given to four of them.
What is 2002 Best Bakery Case?
The 2002 Best Bakery incident is referred as a gruesome incident of communal violence that took place in Gujarat during the post-Godhra riots in 2002. On March 1, 2002, the Best Bakery, a popular bakery in Vadodara, was attacked, resulting in the deaths of 14 people, mostly from the Muslim community.
The incident gained national and international attention due to the brutality of the attack and allegations of police and judicial bias in handling the case.
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The family members of the victims and human rights organizations accused the local police and judiciary of negligence and deliberate mishandling of the investigation and trial, leading to a lack of justice for the victims.
In 2003, the gruesome attack's main witness and survivor, Zahira Sheikh, issued an apology and claimed that she had been harassed and pushed into revising her statements by those in positions of authority. Her remarks caused grave doubts to be expressed about the integrity of the legal system and witness manipulation.
