Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court today rejected
plea of some of the post-Godhra riot victims of Gulburg
society seeking transfer of their case from special court set
up after directions from the Supreme Court.
One of the riot victims Imtiyaz Pathan and seven others
had approached the High Court alleging that the designated
judge B U Joshi presiding over the trial in the Gulburg
society case was biased against victims of the incident and
had an attitude that favoured the accused.
Their petition for transfer of case was earlier rejected
by the Principal Sessions Judge G B Shah in January this year.
A division bench of Justice Jayant Patel and Justice
Abhilasha Kumari, while rejecting the plea observed that
"alleged apprehension of bias for seeking transfer of the
cases cannot be termed as reasonable".
The court also had direction for the judge conducting
trial in the case.
"We find it proper to reiterate that the learned
Sessions Judge while conducting the trial will have a sober
approach to the witnesses while exercising judicial power and
he would also, as far as possible, avoid making any uncalled
for comments or remarks to the parties or the proceedings,
unless he finds that the same are directly relevant for
exercising his judicial functions," the court observed.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 23:11