India: 4 convicted in 2002 Muslim massacre get bail

By Ahmad Adil

CHANDIGARH, India (AA) - Four people convicted last year of involvement in a Muslim massacre in 2002 were granted bail on Wednesday by India’s Supreme Court, local media reported.

Nearly 100 Muslims were killed in the massacre at Norada Patiya -- a locality in Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state. The communal violence followed the torching of a train, which triggered protests in the state.

“The conviction order is debatable,” the court’s bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said on Wednesday, according to the local broadcaster NDTV, while granting the bail.

In June 2018 the Gujarat High Court sentenced the four men to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, saying in its opinion that the “punishment must be consistent with the brutality of the crime.”