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Informist, Thursday, Sep 26, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today rejected the review petition by convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case against their cancellation of remission of sentences. Further, the top court also rejected the Gujarat government's review petition challenging the adverse remarks made against them by the court.

 

"Having carefully gone through the review petitions, the order under challenge and the papers annexed therewith, we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in the review petitions, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned. The review petitions are, accordingly, dismissed. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of", said the Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.

 

On Jan 8, the apex court had quashed the Gujarat government's decision to remit the sentences of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case. The state government, the top court said, did not have the power to entertain remission requests as the trials and convictions in the case had taken place in Maharashtra and not Gujarat.

 

The apex court had said that an order passed by them on May 13, 2022, asking the Gujarat government to consider a premature release application by one of the convicts, was obtained through suppression of facts and previous apex court judgements by larger benches. The court had said it has treated the May 2022 order as not good in law. While granting the remissions, the Gujarat government had relied on the May 2022 order.

 

The Gujarat government's conduct amounted to "usurpation of power" vested in the Maharashtra government, a bench headed by Justice B.V. Nagarathna had said. "The state of Gujarat acted in tandem and was complicit with Respondent No 3 (one of the accused)," she had said. The state government should have brought to the notice of the Supreme Court the relevant laws and the previous judgements on the issue of "appropriate (state) government" during the pendency of the current batch of petitions, the court had said.

 

Thereafter, the convicts and the Gujarat government filed review petitions in the top court. In its review plea, the Gujarat government had said that the top court's remark was unwarranted, contrary to the case record and had seriously prejudiced them. 

 

In January 2008, 11 men were sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Mumbai on charges of gang-raping the five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots, and the murder of her 14 family members. The sentence was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.  

 

The hearing of the case was shifted to Maharashtra from Gujarat as it was felt that a fair trial would not be possible in the latter. Moreover, the release of the convicts was based on the Gujarat government's policy that existed at the time of conviction, following a Supreme Court direction on the matter.

 

All the convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and then released on Aug 15, 2022. This prompted activists and politicians to file a batch of petitions in the apex court challenging the remission. Bilkis Bano, too, had moved the top court against the early release of the 11 convicts.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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