The Gujarat High Court has upheld the dismissal of nine Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel who failed to carry out their assigned duty of patrolling the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, the day the train was attacked near Godhra station, resulting in the deaths of 59 passengers.
Justice Vaibhavi Nanavati, in her ruling dated April 24, observed that the tragic event could potentially have been averted had the officers boarded the Sabarmati Express as instructed, rather than returning to Ahmedabad on a different train due to delays.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The petitioners (policemen) made bogus entries in the register and returned to Ahmedabad by Shanti Express. If the petitioners had departed in Sabarmati Express train itself to reach Ahmedabad, the incident that occurred at Godhra could have been prevented. The petitioners showed negligence and carelessness towards their duty,&rdquo; she stated while dismissing the petitions seeking reinstatement.
According to the case records, the nine GRP personnel&mdash;comprising three armed constables and six unarmed officers&mdash;were part of the mobile squad assigned to board the Sabarmati Express from Dahod station and patrol the train until its arrival in Ahmedabad.&nbsp;
The group had reached Dahod early on February 27 via the Rajkot-Bhopal Express. Upon learning that the Sabarmati Express was running &ldquo;indefinitely late,&rdquo; they chose to board the Shanti Express instead and returned to Ahmedabad, arriving at approximately 10:05 am.
By the time they arrived, the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express had already been torched at around 7:40 am by a mob near Godhra station. The attack resulted in the deaths of at least 59 passengers, the majority of whom were &lsquo;karsevaks&rsquo; (volunteers) returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
Following an investigation, the state government suspended the officers and formally removed them from service in 2005, citing dereliction of duty. The dismissed personnel later challenged the termination in the High Court, requesting that the government&rsquo;s order be overturned and that they be reinstated.
During the proceedings, legal representatives for the petitioners argued that it was a common practice for GRP officers to take alternate trains when their assigned train was running considerably late.&nbsp;
The state government, however, defended its action, stating that the officers not only failed to board the designated train but also submitted false entries at the Dahod Outpost. These entries claimed they had boarded the Sabarmati Express, thereby sending an inaccurate signal to the control room that the train was being patrolled and secured.
The court took note of the train&rsquo;s classification, stating that the Sabarmati Express was designated as a &lsquo;Category A&rsquo; train, which typically required heightened security due to the increased risk of untoward incidents.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The petitioners were entrusted with the duty in Sabarmati Express train. From the record, it emerges that the train belonged to &lsquo;A&rsquo; category. A category are such trains where frequency of untoward incidents like chain pulling, altercations, etc. is high,&rdquo; the order stated.
The ruling also referenced a government directive mandating that all Category A trains must be patrolled by &ldquo;three Armed Personnel with rifles and cartridges and the rest of the policemen are provided with sticks and ropes.&rdquo;
Highlighting the gravity of the officers&rsquo; failure, the court remarked, &ldquo;The petitioners admittedly having been assigned such important duty, have casually thought it fit, not to travel by the assigned train and travelled by Shanti Express.&rdquo;
In concluding the matter, the High Court found no grounds to interfere with the decision of the competent authorities. &ldquo;The reasonings assigned by the competent authorities (government) do not call for any interference. This court deems it fit not to exercise the extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. Accordingly, both the petitions fail and are dismissed,&rdquo; the court ruled.
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Court rejects GRP officers' reinstatement plea, upholding dismissal for negligence during the 2002 Godhra train burning

Guj HC Upholds Dismissal of GRP Personnel Over Godhra Attack

Court rejects GRP officers' reinstatement plea, upholding dismissal for negligence during the 2002 Godhra train burning

May 3, 2025 | 18:17 IST