A court yesterday again postponed the sentencing of 24 convicts in the 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre in Ahmedabad which left killed 69 people.
Judge P B Desai said he would sentence them today.
This is the second time after June 6 that the sentencing was put off. The massacre is one of the cases linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The prosecution has called for the strictest punishment while defence sought lighter sentence and an opportunity for the convicts to reform.
The judge said the convicts need not be physically present in the court today and, if need be they could be presented through video conferencing from the Sabarmati Jail where they are lodged.
During the arguments, the prosecution stuck to its stand that the convicts be given the maximum sentence for the mass murder while defence lawyer argued that the convicts should not be given capital punishment.
Citing a Supreme Court judgment, defence lawyer Abhay Bhardwaj said since the convicts never tried to tamper with evidence nor did they commit any crime during their bail period, they should be given an opportunity to reform.
The lawyer forcefully argued that the court should take into consideration that the attack on the Gulbarg Society was provoked when former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri opened fire, in which one person was killed and several injured. According to the lawyer, Jafri was the key culprit for the unfortunate massacre.
On June 2, the court found 24 of the 66 accused guilty and acquitted 36. Six died during the trial. Of the 24 convicts, 11 were found guilty of various charges, including murder. One person was found guilty of attempt to murder, and remaining 12, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Atul Vaidya, were held guilty of lesser charges like rioting and unlawful assembly.
Special Investigation Team (SIT) lawyer R C Kodekar, during the hearing on June 6, demanded strict sentence while the advocate for the survivors and victims, S M Vora, sought strictest punishment and compensation for the victims.