After putting the Best Bakery case back on track, the Supreme Court on Friday moved its focus to 12 other Gujarat riot cases and sought status reports from the Gujarat government on each one of them.

A bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice S B Sinha and Justice A R Lakshmanan directed the state government to file in a sealed cover a report detailing the status of each of these cases and the witnesses named there in by October 31.

Also see: Gujarat riots cases -- Advani blames justice system

These cases include the Godhra train carnage, the Chamanpura (Gulbarga society) incident, the Naroda Patia incident, the Sadarpura incident in Mehsana district, the Kidiad massacre and the Pandharwada village massacre.

The Court took note of an affidavit filed by Teesta Setalvad of the Citizens for Peace and Justice, in which it is alleged that though in three cases arising from the last two riot incidents (mentioned above), the trial court had acquitted all the accused as far back as October last year, the Gujarat government had not yet filed an appeal.

Also see: Amended appeal filed in Best Bakery case

The affidavit filed through counsel Aparna Bhat alleged that the Gujarat government amended the grounds of appeal in
the Best Bakery case only after it was taken to task by the apex court.
 
The bench fixed November 7 for the next hearing on the matter.

The court also asked Amicus Curiae Harish Salve to keep the court posted on the developments in the Best Bakery case.

The Gujarat high court is scheduled to hear a state government appeal challenging acquittal of all 21 accused in the case.

Advocate K T S Tulsi, appearing for the accused in the Best Bakery case, said constant monitoring of the case was causing immense prejudice to the rights of the accused and the high court could be influenced by the observations of the apex court.

The bench made it clear that it had not made any comment on the merits of the case.

Complete coverage of the Gujarat riots