Sunday, November 6 2005 16:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The prosecution has concluded its arguments in the Best Bakery retrial, which is being conducted in a special court here even as the defence team has geared up to put forth its point of view in an effort to demolish the prosecution case.

The defence arguments, which started before Diwali, are expected to last another two weeks, while the judgement might be delivered some time in December, legal sources said.

Special Judge Abhay Thipsay will have to plough through 3,000 pages of evidence in the case before delivering the verdict.

Fourteen people were killed on March 1, 2002 when a mob attacked Best Bakery in Vadodara. This was one of the worst massacres of post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.

Twenty-one people were accused of the crime when the matter reached a fast track court in Vadodara. Zahira Shaikh, whose father ran the bakery, along with her brother and sister were the key prosecution witnesses.

On July 27, 2003, the Vadodara court acquitted all the 21 accused in the case, causing a consternation nation-wide.

Zahira, who had named the accused in police statement, retracted her version in the court.

National Human Rights Commission then filed a petition in Supreme Court, requesting a retrial outside Gujarat.

Meanwhile, Zahira's mother spoke up about how Zahira and other witnesses were forced to retract their statements in the court through intimidation.

Supreme Court, on April 12, 2004 ordered retrial of the case outside Gujarat. The trial shifted to a court in Mumbai, which framed charges against the accused on September 22.