2002 Gulbarg Society case: SC allows Ahmedabad court to pronounce judgment

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Ahmedabad Trial Court to pronounce judgment in the 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre case.

The apex court has given three months of time to the trial court to pronounce its judgment.

One of the key accused in the case, Kailash Dhobi, has yesterday jumped bail, with his lawyer claiming he has written to Gujarat High Court that he would appear when the trial court will pronounce its verdict.

The high court has already issued a non-bailable warrant against Dhobi after he failed to surrender before police on January 29.

The apex court had last month extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand till March 18 in a case of alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum at Ahmedabad’s Gulbarg Society that was devastated in the 2002 riots.

The apex court, however, issued a warning to the couple, saying that they should cooperate with the probe or be ready to be arrested.

Setalvad and others have been accused of embezzling over one and a half-crore rupees that was collected to convert the Gulberg Society, where 69 people were killed during the post-Godhra riots in 2002 into a museum in memory of the riot victims. (ANI)