Bilkis Bano case: All 11 convicts surrender at Godhra sub jail as per Supreme Court’s deadline

All 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case surrendered late Sunday night at Godhra sub jail in Gujarat's Panchmahal district in keeping with the deadline imposed by the Supreme Court. 

"All 11 convicts have surrendered before jail authorities late Sunday night. They reached jail before midnight of January 21, which was the deadline set for them to surrender," local Crime Branch inspector NL Desai said as reported by news agency PTI.

Earlier, SC had refused to extend the time to surrender and had asked them to do so by Sunday. The convicts had sought an extension of time due to 'ill health', 'harvest of winter crops', and 'son's marriage', as reported by Bar and Bench. 

On 8 January, SC had quashed the Gujarat government's decision, taken in August 2022, to prematurely release 11 convicts facing life terms. It ordered all the convicts, who were released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022, back to jail within two weeks.

What did the Gujarat govt's August decision state?

In August 15, 2022, the 11 convicts, who had spent 14 years in jail as part of a life sentence, were granted premature release after the Gujarat government accepted their remission applications in accordance with its 1992 policy, citing their 'good conduct' during imprisonment.

SC on Gujarat govt's decision

In its 251-page judgment, the Supreme Court said the Gujarat government had no jurisdiction to entertain the applications for remission of sentences and only the government of the state where the offenders were sentenced was competent to consider an application for remission and pass an order.

All the 11 convicts in the case were: Bakabhai Vohania, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradeep Mordhiya, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni, Ramesh Chandana and Shailesh Bhatt.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while trying to escape the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.