The Gurugram District court on Friday convicted 31 and acquitted 117 in the Maruti violence case of 2012.

148 Maruti workers were arrested and charged with the murder of Awanish Kumar Dev, the Human Resource manager at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant, in the violence that erupted on July 18, 2012. While 139 workers are out on bail, nine of the accused, including eight former union members, are still behind bars.

The case is set against the backdrop of prolonged struggle by the workers at Maruti's Manesar Plant to form a union — the plant witnessed three strikes by the workers in 2011 demanding their trade union rights.

The final arguments in the case concluded on Saturday and Additional District and Sessions Judge R.P. Goyal had fixed March 10 for pronouncing the judgment in the case.

(This news report was first published in The Hindu online edition)