Witnesses to oppose Maya bail

Two witnesses in the Naroda Patia and Naroda Gaam rioting cases will oppose the anticipatory bail granted to minister of state for higher education and woman and child welfare, Maya Kodnani, and VHP leader Jaydeep Patel, in the Gujarat high court. They intend to join as party in the applications seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to Kodnani and Patel, filed by the SIT. The Gujarat high court will hear the applications of the SIT as well as the witnesses on Thursday morning.

In their applications, Imtiaz Khureshi, a witness in the Naroda Gaam case, and Dildar Sayyed, a witness in the Naroda Patia case, said that Kodnani and Patel should not be granted bail on the grounds that they were highly influential people and could threaten witnesses and tamper with evidence if they were granted bail. Khureshi and Sayyed have challenged the anticipatory bail granted to Patel and Kodnani, respectively.

The applications were moved in the Gujarat high court on Wednesday, through lawyer SH Iyer. On Tuesday, the SIT, which is reinvestigating the post-Godhra riots cases, had filed appeals against the anticipatory bail granted to Kodnani and Patel. The duo had been granted anticipatory bail by additional sessions judge AK Aswani on February 5. The court had observed that the order would stand for 90 days, and if the SIT were to arrest them, they could apply for regular bail within 10 days.

The SIT had then submitted a comprehensive affidavit in court, citing grounds of the alleged involvement of the leaders in the 2002 riots and statements of several witnesses that said that the duo had incited mobs during the riots.