The Tulsi Bakery case is the name used to refer to a case involving an incident which occurred on March 1, 2002, at a bakery (called Best Bakery) in Vadodara, India in which 14 people were murdered, many of them burned to death as reported in media.
Media glare
The case came into prominence after all the 21 accused were initially acquitted on June 27, 2003 by a "fast-track court" for lack of evidence after 37 out of the 73 witnesses, including key witness Zaheera Sheikh turned hostile. The judgement said "It was proved beyond doubt that a violent mob had attacked the bakery and killed 12 persons. However, there was no legally acceptable evidence to prove that any of the accused presented before the court had committed the crime." The judgement was critical of the police for delay in registering FIR and for not investigating the incident properly and harassing innocent people. It was reported that key witnesses in the case had lied in court out of fear for their lives as they had been given death threats. Key witnesses in the case include the wife and daughter of the bakery owner. According to their testimony to the police and the National Human Rights Commission, 500 people armed with petrol bombs had attacked the bakery. They also accused Bharatiya Janata Party and other party politicians of threatening and harassing them into withdrawing their testimony. The website of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has details of the case proceedings with a timeline. [1]
Reaction from the Gujarat government
The Gujarat government filed an amended appeal in the Gujarat High Court seeking retrial of the case. The appeal was admitted by the Gujarat High Court. After being indicted by the Supreme Court of India, the police registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party legislator for intimidating the witnesses of the incident. The Government of Gujarat admitted there were lapses on the part of the police in registering and recording the FIR in the case and on the part of the prosecution in recording the evidence of witnesses. It said the police had attempted to help the accused by not submitting names of the accused. Zaheera Sheikh retracted her statement again. She stated that the judgment passed by the Gujarat court was correct. She also stated that she had never met the above mentioned legislator. She claims that she made all the statements under the pressure of NGO activist Teesta Setalvad.
Zaheera's flipflops
The prosecution declared Zaheera Sheikh to be a hostile witness. She became the 7th witness to turn hostile in the case after her mother, sister, brothers and another two witnesses. During examination, she said that her maternal uncle Quaser was not present in the bakery when it was set on fire going against the statement she had given to the police earlier. She even claimed that she had signed the FIR without knowing its contents. A tape by Tehelka claimed that Zaheera had been bribed by a BJP MLA. Zaheera was ousted from the Muslim community on the grounds that she was lying constantly. This decision was with consent from the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. [2] Zaheera Sheikh testified to Nanavati Commission, accusing Teesta Setalvad of keeping Zaheera in confinement and provoking her to name innocent persons as accused in the case. The Mumbai retrial found nine of the defendants guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment, while another eight were acquitted. The court also issued show-cause orders to Zaheera Sheikh and other witnesses who recanted their testimony to show why they should not be prosecuted for perjury. A court ordered Zahira to undergo her one-year prison term for lying under oath in a Mumbai prison.
