Supreme Court rejects convicts’ plea against two-judge Bench hearing Godhra train burning appeals
59 people were killed on February 27, 2002, when a coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt at Gujarat’s Godhra, triggering riots. File | Photo Credit: AP The Supreme Court on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) rejected the vehement submissions of few convicts that a two-Judge Bench cannot hear their appeals against conviction as the matter pertained to the award of death penalty to 11 accused in the 2002 Godhra train burning case. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for two convicts, told a Bench comprising of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar that a three-Judge Bench has been held in the Red Fort terror attack case, in which Mohammad Arif (alias Ashfaq) was handed down the death penalty, that a three-Judge Bench has to hear cases pertaining to award of the capital punishment. “Suppose, this Bench of two Judges decides to award death penalty to some accused then it has to be re-argued before another Bench of three Judges,” the senior lawyer said. A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had in its September 2014 judgment …
