The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to a convict serving life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhra train burning case, reported PTI.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha granted the bail to the convict named Faruk, noting that he had spent 17 years in jail and that his role was of throwing stones at the train.

On February 27, 2002, coach S6 of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire at the Godhra station, leading to the deaths of 59 persons. The coach was carrying kar sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya. The incident triggered widespread communal riots in Gujarat, leaving 1,044 persons dead, according to official figures.

“The applicant has sought bail on the ground that he has been in custody since 2004 and has undergone imprisonment for about 17 years,” the Supreme Court said in its order on Thursday, reported Live Law. “In view of the facts and circumstances of the case and the role attributed to the applicant, we direct the applicant to be granted bail subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the Sessions Court.”

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing Gujarat government, opposed Faruk’s bail plea saying that the case was not “mere stone-pelting” by the convicts as it prevented passengers from escaping the burning train coach.

Mehta also urged the Supreme Court to hear the pending appeals in the train burning case.

In 2011, a trial court had convicted 31 persons in the case, out of which 11 were sentenced to death and the remaining 20 were awarded life imprisonment. In 2017, the Gujarat High Court had commuted the death sentence of the 11 convicts to life-term and upheld the life sentence awarded to the other 20.

The appeals filed by the convicts in the Supreme Court are pending since 2018.