‘Appropriate; fair; just’: Families of those killed & injured in 2008 serial blasts on Gujarat High Court verdict

4 min readAhmedabadUpdated: Jul 8, 2026 02:42 AM IST

“The Central government gave us compensation of Rs 4.5 lakhs, The then Gujarat government has given Rs 5 lakh and the Congress party gave us compensation of Rs 1 lakh,” he said.

YASH VYAS was just eight years old when he lost his father Dushyant and older brother Rohan in the bomb blasts that ripped through the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital’s trauma centre on July 26, 2008. He survived with injuries.

Welcoming the Gujarat High Court verdict, Vyas, 28, told The Indian Express on Tuesday, “The judgment is appropriate. My father, my brother and many others were killed in the blasts.” His father was an employee at the hospital and was at work when he was killed.

Vyas earlier told this newspaper, “The two of us (he and his brother) were with our father to learn how to ride a bicycle in the open area there. We were about to return home when my father got a call seeking help for a patient in reaching the Trauma Centre. We reached the centre when the blast occurred.”

Nearly 22 bombs went off in a coordinated manner on that day, killing 56 people and injuring over 200. A special trial court had awarded death sentences to 38 of the 49 convicted persons in 2022, sentencing the rest to life imprisonment. The Gujarat High Court upheld the lower court’s verdict on Tuesday while hearing an appeal challenging it.

Jashvant Patel (59) was among those who died at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in the terror blast on July 26, 2008.

Patel was running a garage in the Asarva area and had gone to help the victims of the blasts that had taken place in various parts of the Ahmedabad city.  When he was at the hospital a blast took place in front of the trauma centre.

His  son, Amrish (49) runs the same garage and now lives in the Vastrapur area of the city.

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Amrish said, “My father was part of a group of people in the area who used to aid the patients at Civil Hospital. On learning of the blasts in the city, he went to the hospital, where he was seriously injured. I got to know about his death nearly two hours after the blast.”

“My uncle was there at the hospital when my father was injured. As there was chaos at Civil Hospital then, he was being taken to the nearby Rajasthan Hospital. However, he died on the way,” Amrish added.

He added, “It is good that the culprits have been punished by the High Court. So many people died.”

According to Amrish, at the relevant time, they were awarded compensation of around Rs 10 lakh by the Central and state governments then, apart from the Congress party.

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“The Central government gave us compensation of Rs 4.5 lakhs, The then Gujarat government has given Rs 5 lakh and the Congress party gave us compensation of Rs 1 lakh,” he said.

“Even if it was delayed, the important thing is justice has been delivered,” says Vijay Modi, whose mother, then 55-years old, was a vendor in  the Sarangpur marketplace and suffered a leg injury. Bombs had gone off in several public places, including Sarangpur, Khadia, Raipur and Isanpur, in addition to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and the municipal corporation-run LG Hospital. “My mother was treated at VS hospital,” says Vijay Modi, adding that she died in 2016.

As an 18-year-old boy at the time, Darshan Modi remembers how panic had struck their neighbourhood in the Khadia area of the Walled City that Saturday. “My mother had gone to the market in Sarangpur to buy vegetables and we heard about the blasts. There was chaos. She was bleeding on one leg and the doctors told us she had been hit by shrapnels. “”We are lucky that she survived… It must be tough for those who lost their loved ones,” says Darshan Modi, now an IT professional. His mother, now 58 years old, lives abroad with his brother.

“I think the High Court verdict is very fair,” he says.

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The Gujarat government at the time had given a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to next of kin of those who were killed, Rs 2.5 lakh each to those who suffered severe injuries and Rs 1 lakh each to those who sustained minor injuries.

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Parimal A Dabhi works with The Indian Express as Chief of Bureau, focusing on the state of Gujarat. Leveraging his seniority and access, Dabhi is recognized for his reporting on the complex interplay of law, politics, social justice, and governance within the region.

Expertise & Authority

Core Authority (Social Justice and Law): Dabhi is a key source for in-depth coverage of caste-based violence, discrimination, and the state's response to social movements, particularly those involving Patidar, Dalit and OBC communities. His reporting focuses on the societal and legal fallout of these issues:

Caste and Discrimination: He has reported extensively on social boycotts and instances of violence against Dalits (such as the attack on a Dalit wedding party in Patan), the community's demands (like refusing to pick carcasses), and the political responses from leaders like Jignesh Mevani.

Judicial and Legal Affairs: He tracks significant, high-stakes legal cases and judgments that set precedents in Gujarat, including the convictions under the stringent Gujarat Animal Preservation Act (cow slaughter), 2002 Gujarat riots and developments in cases involving former police officers facing charges of wrongful confinement and fake encounters.

Political and Administrative Oversight: Dabhi provides essential coverage of the inner workings of the state government and the opposition, ensuring a high degree of Trustworthiness in political analysis:

State Assembly Proceedings: He frequently reports directly from the Gujarat Assembly, covering Question Hour, discussion on various Bills, debates on budgetary demands for departments like Social Justice, and ministerial statements on issues like illegal mining, job quotas for locals, and satellite-based farm loss surveys.

Electoral Politics: His work details key political developments, including election analysis (voter turnout records), party organizational changes (like the end of C R Patil’s tenure as BJP chief), and campaign dynamics. ... Read More

Leena Misra is a Senior Journalist working with The Indian Express. ... Read More

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