Jyotsna Yagnik

Last updated
Jyotsna Yagnik
NationalityIndian
EducationL.L.B., L.L.M., Ph.D.
OccupationJudge
Known for Naroda Patiya massacre judgement
TitlePrincipal Judge, City Civil and Sessions Courts, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Jyotsna Yagnik is a retired Indian judge and academic.

Contents

Naroda Patiya massacre judgement

Yagnik delivered a 1900-page judgement in Naroda Patiya massacre case in 2012 in Gujarat and sentenced 32 people to life in prison including former Gujarat Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Maya Kodnani. Kodnani was sentenced to 28 years in jail. Others sentenced included Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Views on death penalty

Yagnik did not award the death penalty, stating that it undermines human dignity. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Aftermath of the judgement

Yagnik received death threats after the verdict. She was given Z-category security. A man was arrested for making threats. [18] [19] [20] [21]

Judge in other notable cases

Yagnik awarded life sentence to 5 persons in a high-profile gang rape case in 2008. [22] [23] [24] [25] She has presided over other important trials involving rape or attempt to rape minor girls including one who was intellectually disabled. [26] [27]

Academic career

Yagnik has worked as pro vice-chancellor (and dean of School of Law and Justice) of Adamas University, and as faculty at Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Raksha Shakti University and Nirma University. [28] [29] [30]

Related Research Articles

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Capital punishment in India is a legal penalty for some crimes under the country's main substantive penal legislation, the Indian Penal Code, as well as other laws. Executions are carried out by hanging as the primary method of execution as given under Section 354(5) of the Criminal Code of Procedure, 1973 is "Hanging by the neck until dead", and is awarded only in the 'rarest of cases'.

The Godhra train burning occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002: 59 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat. The cause of the fire remains disputed. The Gujarat riots, in which Muslims were the targets of widespread and severe violence, occurred shortly afterward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Gujarat riots</span> Sectarian violence in the Indian state

The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence. Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babu Bajrangi</span> Bajrang Dal leader convicted for massacre of Muslims during the 2002 Gujarat riots

Babubhai Patel, known by his alias Babu Bajrangi, is a leader of the Gujarat-wing of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu right wing organization in India. He was a central figure during the 2002 Gujarat violence. He was sentenced to life term imprisonment by a special court for his role in masterminding the Naroda Patiya massacre in which 97 Muslims were murdered including 36 women, 26 men and 35 children. The Supreme Court of India granted him bail on medical grounds in March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulbarg Society massacre</span> Massacre of a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad during the 2002 Gujarat Riots

The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on 28 February 2002, during the 2002 Gujarat riots, when a crowd started stone pelting the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in the eastern part of Chamanpura, Ahmedabad. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims, including a former Congress Member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total deaths to 69.

Maya Surendrakumar Kodnani is a former Minister of State for Women and Child Development in the Government of Gujarat. Kodnani joined the 12th legislative assembly of Gujarat after being elected to represent the constituency of Naroda as a candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naroda Patiya massacre</span> Massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots

The Naroda Patiya massacre took place on 28 February 2002 at Naroda, in Ahmedabad, India, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. 97 Muslims were killed by a mob of approximately 5,000 people, organised by the Bajrang Dal, a wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, and allegedly supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party which was in power in the Gujarat State Government. The massacre at Naroda occurred during the bandh (strike) called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad a day after the Godhra train burning. The riot lasted over 10 hours, during which the mob looted, stabbed, sexually assaulted, gang-raped and burnt people individually and in groups. After the conflict, a curfew was imposed in the state and army troops were called in to contain further violence.

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The Truth: Gujarat 2002 was an investigative report on the 2002 Gujarat riots published by India's Tehelka news magazine in its 7 November 2007 issue. The video footage was screened by the news channel Aaj Tak. The report, based on a six-month-long investigation and involving video sting operations, stated that the violence was made possible by the support of the state police and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi for the perpetrators. The report and the reactions to it were widely covered in Indian and international media. The recordings were authenticated by India's Central Bureau of Investigation on 10 May 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakti Mills gang rape</span>

The 2013 Mumbai gang rape, also known as the Shakti Mills gang rape, refers to the incident in which a 22-year-old photojournalist, who was interning with an English-language magazine in Mumbai, was gang-raped by five people including a juvenile. The incident occurred on 22 August 2013, when she had gone to the deserted Shakti Mills compound, near Mahalaxmi in South Mumbai, with a male colleague on an assignment. The accused had tied up the victim's colleague with belts and raped her. The accused took photos of the victim during the sexual assault, and threatened to release them to social networks if she reported the rape. Later, an eighteen year old call centre employee reported that she too had been gang-raped, on 31 July 2013 inside the mills complex.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukul Sinha</span>

Mukul Sinha was an Indian human rights activist and a lawyer at the Gujarat High Court in Ahemdabad. He was an active trade union leader and a trained physicist. He legally represented the families of the individuals who were killed in Gujarat following the 2002 riots and in Manipur, in which he secured convictions of the politicians and police officers involved. Along with his wife Nirjhari Sinha, he founded and served as the president of Jan Sangharsh Manch, an independent civil rights organization with the aim of addressing issues of labour and workers rights. He was also a vocal critic of erstwhile Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Jaideep Patel is a medical doctor who runs a pathology lab in Naroda, Ahmedabad, Gujarat in India. He served as the Gujarat state general secretary for Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu nationalist organisation, during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Rahul Sharma is an ex Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Gujarat cadre turned practicing lawyer with Gujarat High Court. He was inducted into the service in 1992. He played a crucial role in policing operations during the 2002 Gujarat riots. He was seconded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2004, and served there for the next three years. Later, he served as the DIG at Rajkot, Gujarat until seeking voluntary retirement from active service in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yogesh Chander Modi</span>

Yogesh Chander Modi is the former Director-General/chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India. A 1984 batch officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Y.C. Modi has over 33 years of experience in the Indian Police Service (IPS). He was designated the Director-General of the NIA on October 30, 2017 and will hold the position till his superannuation on May 31, 2021. The Director-General is highest ranking agency executive in the NIA appointed by central/federal government of India, and Y.C. Modi is the 4th person to hold this post after Radha Vinod Raju, SC Sinha and Sharad Kumar.

Mridula Bhatkar is a former judge of the Bombay High Court, in Maharashtra, India, serving on the court between 2009 and 2019. She adjudicated in several notable cases during her tenure as a judge, including the Jalgaon rape case, the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, and the conviction of Gujarat police officers and doctors in the 2002 gangrape of Bilkis Bano.

Pratibha Rani is a former judge of the Delhi High Court, in Delhi, India. She gained public attention after writing several controversial judicial orders, including an granting bail to political activist Kanhaiya Kumar, in which she quoted Bollywood song lyrics and described surgical procedures to caution him, and another order describing the offence of rape as a "weapon for vengeance and personal vendetta". She has also written several significant judgments, including the reaffirmation of death penalty to the convicts of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder, and the reduction of sentences and grant of bail to convicted offenders of child sexual abuse on the grounds that the child victim may have consented to the abuse.

Usha Mehra is a former judge of the Delhi High Court, in India. She authored a significant report on lapses in police and judicial procedure in investigating and prosecuting cases of sexual assault in India, following the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder.

References

  1. ↑ "28 years for Kodnani, Bajrangi to spend entire life in prison". The Hindu. 2012-08-31. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  2. ↑ "Kodnani gets 28-year jail; life term for 31". Deccan Herald. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  3. ↑ Kumar, Megha (2016-06-16). Communalism and Sexual Violence in India: The Politics of Gender, Ethnicity and Conflict. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   978-1-78673-068-8.
  4. ↑ Chakravarti, Uma (2017-01-17). Fault Lines of History: The India Papers II. Zubaan. ISBN   978-93-85932-31-1.
  5. ↑ Geetha, V. (2016-11-28). Undoing Impunity: Speech after Sexual Violence. Zubaan. ISBN   978-93-85932-15-1.
  6. ↑ Johari, Aarefa. "I was sick of the hateful climate in Gujarat: judge explains why he quit after the riots". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  7. ↑ Mander, Harsh. "The soldier in his uniform is not India's only true patriot – there are heroes everywhere". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  8. ↑ "Naroda Patiya case: Former minister Maya Kodnani gets 28 years in jail". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  9. ↑ "BJP ex-minister, Bajrang Dal leader convicted for Naroda Patiya riots".
  10. ↑ "Death penalty has to go". Deccan Herald. 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  11. ↑ "'Anger and Forgiveness': Has Nussbaum Given Either Its Due?". The Wire. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  12. ↑ D’Souza, Dilip (2013-09-12). "When India Wants the Rapists Hanged". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  13. ↑ "The rope and a chance to reform". The Hindu. 2015-08-06. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  14. ↑ "Death Penalty is State-Sponsored Murder, the Indian Judiciary Must Put a Stop to Executions". The Wire. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  15. ↑ Vij, Shivam. "Kasab, Bajrangi and the case against the death penalty". Rediff. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  16. ↑ "Sexual Violence and the Death Penalty". 49 (3). 2014-01-10.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. ↑ "Naroda Patia case judge appreciates Gulbarg court's not awarding death sentence". The Times of India. 2016-06-18. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  18. ↑ "2002 Gujarat Riots Convict Babu Bajrangi Granted Bail for Sixth Time". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  19. ↑ "Gujarat judge Jyotsana who convicted Kodnani, Babu Bajrangi gets 22 threat letters". The Indian Express. 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  20. ↑ "Gujarat: Man arrested for making threat calls to retired judge". The Indian Express. 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  21. ↑ "Riots judge says state ignoring her security". Ahmedabad Mirror. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  22. ↑ "Five get lifer in Bijal Joshi gangrape case". India Today. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  23. ↑ "Four women judges hold promise of justice for 2002 - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  24. ↑ "Five get lifer in Bijal Joshi gangrape case". The Times of India. 2008-06-20. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  25. ↑ "5 sentenced to life for gang-rape in Gujarat". DNA India. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  26. ↑ "Court orders DNA for rape case". The Times of India. 2013-01-03. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  27. ↑ "Man gets 10 yrs imprisonment in attempted rape case". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  28. ↑ "Adamas University School Of Law And Justice: Delivering Holistic Legal Education To The Students Ensuring Practical Learning Solutions | TheHigherEducationReview". www.thehighereducationreview.com. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  29. ↑ Team, Editorial (2021-04-10). "Dr Jyotsna Yagnik: The Quintessence of Hard Work & Discipline in the Indian Education Realm". Higher Education Digest. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  30. ↑ Agencies, TPT Bureau | (2020-07-04). "Career Guidance | Experts talk on Law as a career with diverse opportunity & wider perspective". The Policy Times. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
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