The Supreme Court has acquitted four men convicted in connection with communal riots in Ahmedabad city in 2003 that led to a death on the ground that the testimonies of witnesses were not credible as pinpointing the role of individuals in a mob of 1,000-1,500 was difficult in the absence proper corroboration.
The four acquitted convicts are Javed Shaukat Ali Khan, who is also the appellant in the case, Mehboob Khan Allarakha, Said Khan alias Anna Iqbal Husain, and Amjad Khan Nasir Khan Pathan.
Two of the convicts — Mehboob Khan and Said Khan — were acquitted on the ground of parity although they had not filed an appeal against Gujarat High Court's verdict upholding their conviction. The high court had reduced their sentence to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment from the life term imposed by a sessions court.
In the case of Amjad Khan, the Supreme Court recalled its 2018 order dismissing his appeal against his conviction. The court pointed to the acquittal of three co-convicts who were freed earlier.
Advocate Shoeb Alam, the amicus curiae, had told the court that some other convicts had earlier been acquitted by it after discarding the testimonies of two prosecution witnesses. However, on the same set of testimonies, Mehboob Khan and Said Khan were convicted by the high court.