Naroda Patiya case: Gujarat govt to seek death penalty for Maya Kodnani, others

The Gujarat government will seek death penalty for Maya Kodnani, a former minister in Narendra Modi government, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and eight others when it files an appeal in the High Court against the Special Court’s judgement in 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case.

“The legal department has formed a panel of three advocates who have been asked to prepare an appeal to be filed in the High Court and seek death sentence for 10 convicts in the case, including Kodnani and Bajrangi, who were awarded life sentence by the trial court,” Assistant Public Prosecutor Gaurang Vyas told on Tuesday.

Government will be filing the appeal after a gap of seven months, whereas stipulated time for challenging a lower court’s order is three months. The state will have to seek approval from the High Court to file the appeal due to lapse of time.

Vyas has been appointed Assistant Public Prosecutor along with advocate Alpesh Kogje, while senior counsel Prashant Desai will represent the State Government as Special Public Prosecutor in the high-profile post-Godhra riot case.

Apart from seeking death sentence for 10 convicts, the appeal, likely to be filed next week, will press for enhancement of 24-year jail term to 30 years for 22 convicts given life sentence by the trial court, Vyas said.

The prosecution will also challenge designated court’s order to acquit 29 accused.

In August last year, trial court Judge Jyostna Yagnik sentenced Kodnani to 28 years jail, while Bajrangi was ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison. Eight others were awarded 31-year imprisonment, while 22 convicts got 24 years prison term.

As many as 97 people were brutally killed in Naroda Patiya locality of the city by a violent mob on 28 February, 2002, a day after the Godhra train carnage triggered communal riots in Gujarat.

Envoys to flood Vibrant Gujarat Investor Summit in January 2013

The US is finally reaching out to ‘Modzilla’ – a term coined by US diplomats for chief minister Narendra Modi in the cables they send to Washington and brought out by Wikileaks. The US consul general will be part of an army of foreign diplomats who will attend the latest version of the Vibrant Gujarat Investor Summit in January 2013.

Officials of a number of European Union countries have already confirmed participation while Canada and Japan are partnering the summit.

In effect, the number of foreign diplomats is expected to double in the 2013 summit. The summit in 2011 had seen diplomats of Canada, Japan and some African countries.

With Modi’s growing importance in national politics, the UK ended its decade-old boycott of Modi when the British ambassador to India James Bevan met him in October and announced his participation in the two-day summit.

In January 2011, US consul general Paul Folmsbee had attended one of the seminars on US-India trade relations at the summit. He had, however, maintained a studied distance from Modi at the time and called his visit non-political.

This time however, lobbyists are believed to be making a serious attempt to arrange a meeting between the chief minister and Peter Hass, the present consul general, who is coming for the summit and will most likely be part of the inauguration.

Haas will be accompanied by a delegation of US India Business Council (USIBC). He visited Ahmedabad twice in the last year, but held no meetings with state government officials. In March, he visited Citizen Nagar, a relief colony for the riot-affected. In August, the US government hosted an iftar in Ahmedabad to promote inter-faith relations and goodwill.

Last week a US state department official said, “We continue to promote and encourage investments in Gujarat, and we continue to engage with Gujarat across a broad range of issues: trade, investment, energy, university linkages, and people-to-people exchanges.”

Can’t ignore Gujarat if you want stronger ties with India: Britain

Delivering a lecture The UK and India: Myths, Reality and Prospects, on Thursday, British High Commissioner in India James Bevan cited the recent decision of Britain to re-engage with Gujarat on trade and easing travel advisory on Jammu and Kashmir to show that his country likes to have a robust partnership with the country.

“Our belief that India will matter more and more in future, and that all of India matters, also played a part in our recent decision to change our policy on Gujarat. Since the 2002 riots, the British government has had no high level contact with the government of Gujarat.

“But if you want to build a stronger relationship with India, as we do, you can’t ignore Gujarat. And if you want to deal with any Indian state, you need to deal with the government of that state,” he said.

On the Gujarat chief minister, Bevan said Modi is democratically elected and “if you want to deal with a state in India you need to deal with the government of that state and you need to deal with the democratically elected chief minister.”

Geoglobal:Parliament adjourned, Gujarat govt issues a statement

There was uproar in parliament on Tuesday over alleged irregularities in gas deal by Gujarat government. While Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12.30 pm, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2.00 pm.

Meanwhile, Gujarat government spokespersons Shri Jaynarayan Vyas and Saurabh Patel on Monday issued a statement and clarified the state government’s point of view on the allegations on gas contract to Geo-global resourcing company. The spokesperson ministers said:

-This is one more Congress lie to defame Gujarat.

-In reference to an agreement between GSPC-Geoglobal company on 27 August 2002, the GSPC has in writing said in August 2010 that Geoglobal company has no participating interest in this gas clock, and the contract is canceled. This matter is pending before central government’s Petroleum ministry.

-This is one more lie conspired by Congress’s ‘Dirty tricks department’.

-Central government’s Director General of Hydrocarbon and central Petroleum and Gas ministry’s management committee was informed about this decision and reminders have been sent for suitable actions, but for last two years, the central government has not replied any of these reminders.

-Commercial gas has not been produced so far at all in KG-OSN-2001/3 gas block,m and thus Geoglobal has not been paid even a single pie of profit.

-GSPC-Geoglobal agreement has been canceled and 10% participating interest has been forfeited.