Ahmedabad, Oct 9: The Gujarat High Court on Monday commuted the death sentence of 11 convicts to life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhra train burning case. The court said that the state government failed to maintain law and order. Also Read - 12 Gujarat High Court Employees Test COVID Positive, Proceedings Suspended Till September 16

The High Court bench led by Justice AS Dave and Justice GR Udhwani asked the government to pay Rs 10 lakh each to kar sevak’s families who died in the incident. Also read: SC Reverses HC Order on Compensating Religious Places Damaged in Godhra Riots Also Read - Gujarat HC Pulls up State Govt, Calls Main COVID-19 Facility 'as Good as Dungeon, May be Even Worse'

The life sentence of 20 convicts remains the same. Also read: Witness says Jaideep Patel was in Godhra on Feb 27 Also Read - Gujarat: After Bomb Threat, Security Heightened at Vadodara District Court

The court has confirmed conviction of all 31 accused persons. Even High Court has believed the case of conspiracy and unlawful assembly, said Special Prosecutor. As far as law and order is concerned, the court has observed there has been a lapse on part of state government and Railway authorities, he added.

The hearing in the case went on for 29 months and the media was kept out of the courtroom throughout the hearing.

This came after a set of appeals were filed challenging convictions and acquittals by a special SIT court in the 2002 Godhra train burning case. Coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express was burnt on February 27, 2002 at the Godhra station, triggering riots in the state. Fifty-nine people, mostly ‘kar sevaks’, were returning from Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya in the said coach.

The special SIT court had on March 1, 2011, convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 in the case. While 11 people were sentenced to death, 20 were sentenced to life imprisonment. Several appeals were filed in the High Court challenging the conviction, while the state government had questioned the acquittal of 63 people.

The SIT Court, while describing the Godhra train burning incident as a rarest of the rare, noted that the crime was executed through a well-planned conspiracy. The court’s observation was based upon the finding of the Gujarat government-appointed Nanavati Commission, which concluded that the fire in the S-6 coach was not an accident, but it was set ablaze.

All 59 people were killed in the train burning incident on February 27, 2002. Their murder sparked a wave of communal violence in most parts of Gujarat. At least 1,000 people were killed in the riots and more than 3,000 injured. According to civil rights’ activists, more than 50,000 people were displaced from their homes.