Eight convicts in the Best bakery case have petitioned the Bombay high court seeking their transfer from Kolhapur central jail to Vadodara prison in Gujarat so that they are able to remain closer to families.
All the eight have been lodged in Kolhapur jail since February 2007 after a special court here convicted them for burning alive 14 people inside Best Bakery in Hanuman Tekdi area of Vadodara during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.
The Best bakery case was shifted to Mumbai by the Supreme Court for fair trial.
The convicts have written a letter to the high court, which it has converted into a writ petition. The court would hear their plea in due course.
The convicts pleaded that since they have been lodged in Kolhapur prison they have not been able to meet their families.
"We are far away from our home. Our families are facing financial difficulties because of which they are not able to visit us. It becomes time consuming and expensive for them to visit us in Kolhapur Jail", they contended.
The convicts further submitted that in Kolhapur jail they cannot seek furlough (leave). Under the law, they are entitled to 15 day furlough every year.
The letter stated that since the convicts were residents of Gujarat and did not have any relatives in Maharashtra it became difficult for them to find sureties to get furlough.
The convicts are Rajubhai Baria, Pankaj Gosavi, Sanjay Thakkar, Bahadursingh Chauhan, Jagdish Rajput, Dinesh Rajbhar, Sanabhai Baria and Sailesh Tadvi.
On March 1, 2002, a mob had set ablaze Best Bakery in lower-middle class dominated Hanuman Tekdi area of Vadodara
killing 14 people. Among the victims were family members of
Zaheera Shaikh who had taken refuge inside the bakery.
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