‘Maya Kodnani was not at the scene of offence’

The defence argument of former BJP leader Maya Kodnani began on Monday in the designated trial court hearing the Naroda Gam massacre case of 2002, post-Godhra riots, in which she is one of the key accused along with 81 others.

Her lawyer’s argument centred around her presence which, according to her, was in no way near the scene of offence as has been alleged by eyewitnesses.

Kodnani, who was then an MLA, is alleged to have led the rioters on a rampage in the Muslim-dominated Naroda Gam locality on February 28, 2002.

The prosecution, the Supreme Court appointed-Special Investigation Team (SIT), has alleged that she was spotted leading the angry mob from 9:30 am to 10:30 am which have been established by a number of eyewitnesses. However, she has claimed that she was not at the scene of offence and there are witnesses that confirm that she was at the state Assembly in Gandhinagar and Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad at the time of the incident.

To prove her case, Kodnani had brought Union Home Minister Amit Shah, her husband Surendra and several others in the witness box in 2018. Shah told the court that he saw her in the Assembly at around 8:30 am and then at Sola Civil Hospital at around 11-11:15 am.

“The investigating officers didn’t include many relevant aspects in the case which could have proved that she wasn’t at the scene of the crime. They didn’t seek information from the Assembly, from Sola Civil Hospital where a large number of people from Naroda had gathered to collect dead bodies of their relatives (kar sevaks),” Kodnani’s lawyer Amit Patel argued.

He further added that the SIT also didn’t include her mobile phone locations despite having obtained the call detail records from service providers.

“The prosecution (SIT) in collision with NGOs came up with only those evidence which were against Maya Kodnani while it never produced those documents that could have defended such as her presence at the Assembly, at Sola Civil hospital and later at her maternity hospital in Naroda,” Patel said.

The argument will continue on Thursday.