Bilkis Bano Case: SC issues notice to Gujarat govt, Centre over release of 11 gangrape convicts
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday (August 25) sent notice to the Gujarat government and the Centre on a plea that challenged the release of 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano during post-Godhra riots in 2002.
The court said it will have to check if there was an application of mind while granting remission to the 11 convicts. CJI NV Ramana heard the plea with Justice Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath.
Hearing the plea, Jutsice Rastogi said: "Whatever acts were committed, they were convicted. The question is whether, under the relevant scheme, they were justified in being considered for remission."
He added that the top court had asked only to consider the matter in accordance with the law. The court also directed all the convicts whose release is being challenged, made a party.
CJI Ramana said, "I read somewhere that Supreme Court has granted permission for remission. No, court said only to consider," Live Law reported.
The plea in the case was filed by CPI(M) Politburo member Subhashini Ali, journalist Ravati Laul and Prof Roop Rekha Verma.
The Gujarat government on August 15 had released all the 11 convicts under its remission policy after they had served several years in jail. Their release was widely condemned by lawyers and women rights activists.
The 11 men were convicted of gangraping of Bilkis Bano and killing seven members of her family during the Gujarat riots in 2002. All 11 of these people lived in the neighbourhood of Bilkis Bano's house and knew her.
How were they released? One of the convicts in the case Radheshyam Shah had approached the Gujarat HC seeking remission of the sentence under the sections 432 and 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. All 11 were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Special CBI court in 2008. The HC rejected the plea saying that the "appropriate government" to decide on this remission was Maharashtra and not Gujarat.
He then filed a plea in the SC April 2022 seeking his remission. On May 13, 2022, the SC said that since the crime took place in Gujarat, the state of Gujarat was the "appropriate government" to examine Shah's application.
The Gujarat government then formed a committee that unanimously took the decision to grant remission to all 11 convicts in the case and ordered its release on August 14. All the 11 convicts walked out of the jail on August 15.
The case: Bilkis Bano, who was five months pregnant fled her village along with her family after riots broke out after the burning of 59 karsevaks in the Sabarmati train coach at Godhra station on February 27, 2002. On March 3, Bilkis Bano was attacked by 20-30 men who had swords, sickles and sticks in their hands. Bilkis's 3-year-old child was killed by one of the accused Shailesh Bhatt.
The men then gangraped Bilkis and other women of her family and later killed 14 members of her family including women.
The SC had ordered a CBI probe in the case. The accused in the case were arrested in 2004.
The trial started in Ahmedabad but it was later transferred to Maharashtra after Bilkis Bano appealed to the court that the witnesses in the case could be harmed and evidence could have been tampered.
The CBI special court in 2008 sentenced 11 accused to life imprisonment. It also released 7 other in the case for want of evidence and 1 accused died during the case.
In 2019, the SC had ordered the Gujarat government to pay Rs 50 lakh compensation, a job and house to Bilkis Bano.