Mumbai: 'No grounds for transfer of Best Bakery case, says court

The court of the principal judge, sessions court, while recently rejecting the plea of an accused in Gujarat’s Best Bakery case of 2002, has said in its order that no grounds are made out for transfer of the case.

The accused Harshad Solanki had made allegations against activist Teesta Setalvad in his plea. He had pointed out that she was arrested in connection with the Gujarat riots and claimed Setalvad had conspired against, implicated and framed innocents in his case too. It was during the Gujarat riots that a mob had attacked the bakery in Vadodara, resulting in 14 deaths. The trial of the case was transferred to Mumbai. The court said in its order that the accused argued for a long time on different issues other than the transfer application.

The court pointed out that the main grievance is that the trial is delayed and for many years the accused is in jail. The grievance, it noted, is against the special public prosecutor that she is delaying the matter. The only grievance against the court, it noted, is that it issued summons to a witness.

Solanki had objected to summoning a witness who was required by the prosecution to identify him. He had claimed that the testimony of this witness was already recorded and there is no provision to summon him again. Solanki was then an absconding accused when the witness had testified earlier and hence the prosecution had sought to summon him again as now Solanki was available and facing trial.

The court said it is the discretion of the trial court and the public prosecutor, whom it wanted to summon and examine. It concluded that nothing has been brought before it to show that the trial court has acted with a biased mind and that the accused will not get justice from it.