According to the verdict, a group of Muslims had conspired to kill Hindu Kar Sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya on the Sabarmati Express.
An Ahmedabad court has passed the verdict in the 2002 Godhra train burning case. The 850-page verdict was passed by Justic P R Patil.
Of the 94 people accused in the case, 31 have been convicted under Section 302 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code, and 63 have been set free. The sentence will be pronounced on Feb 25.
According to the verdict, a group of Muslims living in Singal Falia, a colony adjoining Godhra, had conspired to kill Hindu Kar Sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya on the Sabarmati Express.
253 witnesses were questioned, and 1,500 documentary evidences were examined.
The main accused, Maulvi Umarji, has been set free due to lack of evidence. Razak Kurkur and Haji Billa are among the other prime accused.
On 27 February 2002, Coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire by a mob of about 1,000 people, a tragedy in which 59 were killed. Many of those killed were Kar Sevaks.
The horrific incident triggered off one of the worst communal riots in the nation's history - in which about 1,200 people were killed, many of them Muslims.
According to the court, there was a conspiracy behind the burning, as opposed to a theory that the attack was triggered by tensions between the Kar Sevaks and some Muslim vendors at the Godhra station.
In 2002, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had accused Maulvi Umarji of master-minding the Sabarmati attack and ordering four lieutenants to mobilise a mob and fuel to burn the S-6 coach. The SIT had also identified 31 people, who it said had planned the attack.
After allegations that the SIT's investigations were biased, another SIT probe was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2008. Headed by R K Raghavan, this SIT endorsed the first SIT's findings on the Godhra case.
The accused have been in Sabarmati jail since 2002, and the trial began in 2009. Initially, a total of 134 were accused. 14 were released due to lack of evidence, 5 died during the proceedings, 16 are absconding, and 5 were juvenile. Trial was conducted against the remaining 94.