By TCN Staff Writer,
New Delhi: Out of 31 Godhra Muslims convicted by the Special Court on 22nd Feb. 2011 for their alleged role in the Sabarmati train carnage, four were minor (or hardly 18) when the incident took place near Godhra Railway station on 27th Feb. 2002, resulting in the bloodiest ever communal pogrom in Gujarat.
When on Friday (25th Feb.) the Special Court sat inside the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad to pronounce quantum of sentence for the 31 convicts, counsel for Ibhrahim A. Razzaq Samol (now 27 told the court that Ibrahim’s trial should be transferred to the juvenile court as he was a minor on the day when the train was set afire. Defence lawyer A A Hasan reportedly contended that Ibrahim cannot be convicted by the special court.
“I made an oral submission that Ibrahim was a minor when the train carnage incident occurred. I told the court that when Ibrahim was arrested in September 2004, the arrest memo stated that he was 20 years old. It directly indicates that in February 2002, Ibrahim was below 18. We don’t need any another proof now. The court will have to consider it and conduct an inquiry,” Hasan has been quoted as saying by TOI.
The lawyer also said that when raised the point on 25th Feb. none in the court objected, making him hopeful that he court may transfer his case to juvenile court. The court will announce sentence on all convicts on 1st March 2011.
Ibrahim was arrested in September 2004, and the arrest memo stated he was 20 years old. This means he was 18 in 2002. However, his father says he was just 17.
“We had been saying that Ibrahim was juvenile at the time of the train carnage. Yet, the police arrested him and produced him before the court. I am happy that my son’s case will be reconsidered and I am sure that he will be released soon,” Ibrahim’s father Abdul Razzak has said. He further said that his son was born on February 7, 1985.
Ibrahim is not alone. In fact there are three other convicts in the Godhra case who are today 27 years old, meaning they were below or at 18 in 2002.
They are: Irfan Mohammad Hanif Pataliya, Zabir Binyamin Bahera and Irfan Siraj Pada. While Shoeb Yusuf Kalandar was 19 then.