Gulberg Society verdict only half justice, says Congress

New Delhi: The Congress too on Thursday sought to echo its former MP Ehsan Jafri's widow Zakia Jafri's description of a Gujarat court verdict in the Gulberg Housing Society massacre in Ahmedabad as "half justice" to the victims.

Fourteen years ago, an armed mob set ablaze the society complex, massacring 69 persons, including Ehsan Jafri. 

After the special Gujarat court on Thursday convicted 24 people, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Atul Vaidya, Zakia Jafri said: "More than half of them have been acquitted, which shows the verdict and the investigation were not up to mark. It is like half justice. I will have to continue my legal battle (approaching the higher court again) as well." 

"After almost 14 years... the verdict given by the SIT court can be described as half justice -- not full justice," Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh told the media here. 

"I say half justice because the main accused -- a Bharatiya Janata Party corporater -- has been set free," he added, insisting the party's "experience in the case has been that the main mastermind somehow manages to get free everytime".

"Only the foot soldiers, the people who take orders, are found guilty," Ramesh said. 

He said the masterminds and planners of the massacre should also be booked if the matter is to be brought to rest.