New Delhi, March 22 -- The Supreme Court on Friday acquitted six people accused of forming an unlawful assembly around a mosque in February 2002 after the Godhra riots in Gujarat, holding that mere presence of persons at the spot is not sufficient to hold them guilty unless evidence indicates otherwise.
The decision of the court came on an appeal filed by the six accused challenging a Gujarat high court order of 2016 which convicted them of being part of an unlawful assembly at Vadod village on February 28, 2002. This was the first day of the riots after the Godhra train carnage that took place a day ago. The accused were earlier acquitted by the trial court in 2003.
A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra said, "Appellants' arre...