Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and BJP leader Maya Kodnani are among those convicted. They were accused of leading a mob against Muslims in the post-Godhra riots.

On February 28, 2002 when a bandh call was given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a large crowd gathered in the Naroda Patiya area and attacked the people of minority community, killing 97 persons and injuring 33 others.

The trial began in August 2009 and charges were framed against 62 accused. One of the accused, Vijay Shetty, died during the trial. As many as 327 witnesses including eye witnesses, victims, doctors, police personnel, government officials, forensic experts and journalists like Ashish Khetan, who conducted a TV sting operation on the accused, have been examined by the court. Initially, after the incident, 46 persons were arrested by the Gujarat police.

After the probe was handed over to the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2008, the agency arrested 24 more persons, taking total persons arrested in the case to 70.