New Delhi , India ( CNN ) -- An Indian court has handed down death sentences to 11 people for their role in the 2002 burning of a train carrying Hindu activists in the western state of Gujarat . Twenty other people convicted of the same arson attack were sentenced to life in prison , public prosecutor J.M . Panchal said Tuesday . A life sentence in India runs for 20 years , and a prisoner can apeal after he has served 14 , Panchal said . The 20 who were sentenced to life have spent nine years in jail that will count toward their sentence , he said . A suspected Muslim mob attacked the Sabarmati Express near the town of Godhra on 27 February , 2002 , killing more than 50 people , most of whom were Hindu pilgrims . The Hindu pilgrims were returning from the north Indian town of Ayodhya where they had been demanding that the government build a temple on the ruins of a 16th century mosque . The train fire sparked days of rioting in which more than a thousand people , mostly Muslims , were killed . Defense attorney I.M . Munshi said he would appeal the convictions . `` I am not able to swallow it , '' Munshi said . `` This is not the final verdict . It 's always appealable , '' he said , referring to the rights of the convicts to challenge the sentencing in higher courts . Death-row prisoners in India can file appeals in the Supreme Court in New Delhi if their petitions are turned down by lower courts . A mercy petition to the Indian president is the ultimate option they have if the top court too dismisses their pleas . Police had charged 94 men for setting fire to the train . Sixty-three of the accused , including one of the main conspirators , were acquitted Tuesday due to lack of evidence , prosecutors said .
Some receive death sentences . 63 others are acquitted because of lack of evidence . The torching of the temple killed more than 50 , mostly Hindu pilgrims . It sparked waves of riots in which mostly Muslims were killed .