Support for Best Bakery case gathers momentum

The Supreme Court judgement in the Best Bakery case, transferring the case out of Gujarat on 12 April 2004, has to some extent restored faith in the judiciary of India.

In Mumbai, 175 people from the world of academia, women's organisations, citizens' groups, the arts, and the corporate world gathered at a public meeting organised by Insaaniyat on 24 April 2004, to express support for the judgement. Insaaniyat is a loose network of individuals and organisations committed to a movement for democracy, communal harmony and human rights.

Speaking on the occasion, Mihir Desai, Insaaniyat member and human rights lawyer representing Zahira Sheikh, said that the Supreme Court judgement was unprecedented in more ways than one. It was indeed rare for such a combination in a judgement: that the court ordered a re-trial; it ordered a re-investigation; that the case was moved to the Bombay High Court; and that the victims are given the chance to choose a public prosecutor to represent their case.

Teesta Setalvad, who has been spearheading the work of Citizens for Justice and Peace, spoke of the immense courage and tenacity of women like Zahira and Bilkis Bano in their search for justice, given the vitiated atmosphere in Gujarat.