AHMEDABAD: An Indian court on Friday acquitted an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was the most senior figure convicted over the deadly 2002 Gujarat religious riots.

Maya Kodnani, who served as a minister in the Gujarat state government then led by Modi, was sentenced to 28 years in jail in 2012 over the killing of 97 Muslims in the worst massacre during the riots.

Kodnani, 63, appealed to the Gujarat High Court which gave her the benefit of the doubt but upheld the convictions of 12 other accused, including Babu Bajrangi, a firebrand leader of a Hindu right-wing outfit.

“The court observed that Kodnani’s name never came up in 2002. It was only included after SIT (Special Investigation Team) took over,” said special public prosecutor R. C. Kodekar.

“The court also observed that the statement of 11 witnesses against Kodnani were inconsistent, hence she was given benefit of doubt,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2018