NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD: “Religious fanatics don’t belong to any religion and they are no less than terrorists,” Justice D.H. Vaghela stated yesterday in Gujarat High Court while canceling anticipatory bail granted earlier to State Minister Maya Kodnani and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Jaideep Patel.
The two are facing various charges for their role in the 2002 anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat. “It is unfortunate that so much time has lapsed since the incidents took place but that doesn’t take away the gravity of the crime,” Vaghela observed.
“Communal harmony is a hallmark of democracy,” Vaghela said. The court observed that presence of Kodnani and Patel at the scene of offense was prima facie established by evidence provided by Special Investigating Agency (SIT), constituted by the Supreme Court to probe the Gujarat 2002 cases afresh.
Rejecting their plea for additional time for further appeal, the court observed that the accused had not done anything to quell or control the mob, which killed 106 people at Naroda Patia and Naroda village incidents. “The crime was of a heinous nature with far-reaching implications,” the court said.
While Kodnani is accused in both cases, Patel is accused in Naroda village case. The two had been granted anticipatory bail by an Ahmedabad Sessions Court on Feb. 5. The SIT declared them absconders in January as they failed to turn up despite repeated summons. The SIT approached High Court seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to the accused by the lower court.
Kodnani submitted her resignation from the Gujarat Cabinet to Chief Minister Narendra Modi immediately after cancellation of her bail. Modi accepted her resignation. Kodnani also surrendered at the SIT office.
On the Gujarat High Court order, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Balbir Punj said: “The BJP respected in letter and spirit the verdict of the Gujarat High Court and will act accordingly to the full satisfaction of the honorable court. The law will take its own course.”
Meanwhile, BJP candidate Varun Gandhi is expected to court arrest today in Pilibhit, from where he is contesting Lok Sabha elections as the party’s candidate. Varun withdrew his petition filed earlier in Delhi High Court, seeking anticipatory bail, which was granted till yesterday. His counsel argued before Justice Reva Khetrapal that Varun sought to withdraw the petition as Allahabad High Court had earlier in the week dismissed his plea for quashing criminal proceedings against him for making incendiary speeches. Accepting this plea, Khetrapal said: “Without going into maintainability issue and into the merit of the case, the petition is dismissed.”
Meanwhile, the BJP has dismissed chances of using Varun as its star campaigner at the national level. “Varun may be a national leader for the media but is not a national leader for the BJP,” Punj said.
On whether he was BJP’s star campaigner, he replied: “No, Varun Gandhi is not a star campaigner of BJP. Why are you not asking about other leaders as star campaigners?”
Varun’s inflammatory communal remarks have drawn ire for BJP from Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee President Harvinder Singh Sarna. Blaming BJP for Varun’s comments, Sarna said: “The venom he spewed against the communities (Muslims and Sikhs) showed that those were not his opinions, but of the BJP ... it has created an atmosphere of hatred against minority communities.”
