NEW DELHI: The convicts, Umeshbhai Bharwad, Rajkumar, Harshad and Prakashbhai Rathod, are serving a 10-year jail term for arson and rioting. They were convicted by the Gujarat High Court. A case was described as one of the worst massacres in the 2002 Gujarat riots, have been granted bail by the Supreme Court.

the Supreme Court said while granting them bail on Tuesday, that"The conviction order is debatable,". While The top court also said it is seized of appeals by others convicted in the case, including Babu Bajrangi.

The court State that, "Imposing too lenient a sentence would amount to a travesty of justice... Imposition of 10 years of rigorous imprisonment would be adequate punishment,"

Whereas, at least 97 Muslims were killed by a mob in Naroda Patiya near Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, in the communal riots that followed the Godhra train burning in which 59 Hindu train passengers were killed.

The court further observed that any liberal attitude with respect to such offences would be "counter-productive" and "against the interest of society."

Last year in June, the Gujarat High Court had sentenced the convicts to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, observing that their punishment must be steady with the cruelty of the crime.

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