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Nearly three months after a Special Court here convicted them for burning 58 Kar Sewaks at Godhra, all the 31 convicted have filed their appeals before the Gujarat High Court.
A designated Special Court had on March 1 this year sentenced eleven, of the 31 convicted, to death for setting fire to the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express on Feb 27, 2002, killing 58 Kar Sewaks returning from Ayodhya.
The 20 other convicted for the conspiracy to set fire to the Sabarmati Express were sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional Sessions Judge PR Patel.
The Special Court had also acquitted 63 other accused, including Maulana Umarji who wielded considerable influence among the community in Godhra.
Pronouncing the judgement in the ghastly incident which had sparked off riots in the State, the Additional Sessions Judge had described the murder conspiracy to be 'rarest of rare' which qualifies for death sentences.
Their appeals would come up for hearing when the High Court reopens in mid-June after the summer vacations are over.
The eleven sentenced to death are those found guilty of hatching the conspiracy and actually implementing it by procuring petrol, transporting it, entering the train coach by cutting the vestibule and setting the S-6 coach afire.
Prominent among those sentenced to death are Abdul Razzak Kurkur, the owner of the Aman Guest House where the conspiracy was hatched the previous night (Feb 26, 2002), Haji Bilal, Bin Yamin Behra, Latiko, Yusuf Charkha and others.
A designated Special Court had on March 1 this year sentenced eleven, of the 31 convicted, to death for setting fire to the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express on Feb 27, 2002, killing 58 Kar Sewaks returning from Ayodhya.
The 20 other convicted for the conspiracy to set fire to the Sabarmati Express were sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional Sessions Judge PR Patel.
The Special Court had also acquitted 63 other accused, including Maulana Umarji who wielded considerable influence among the community in Godhra.
Pronouncing the judgement in the ghastly incident which had sparked off riots in the State, the Additional Sessions Judge had described the murder conspiracy to be 'rarest of rare' which qualifies for death sentences.
Their appeals would come up for hearing when the High Court reopens in mid-June after the summer vacations are over.
The eleven sentenced to death are those found guilty of hatching the conspiracy and actually implementing it by procuring petrol, transporting it, entering the train coach by cutting the vestibule and setting the S-6 coach afire.
Prominent among those sentenced to death are Abdul Razzak Kurkur, the owner of the Aman Guest House where the conspiracy was hatched the previous night (Feb 26, 2002), Haji Bilal, Bin Yamin Behra, Latiko, Yusuf Charkha and others.
