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Bilkis Bano gangrape case: SC to deliver verdict on pleas challenging convicts’ remission on January 8
Bilkis Bano gangrape case: The Supreme Court is set to deliver judgment on January 8 in connection with a batch of pleas challenging remission granted to convicts.
The Supreme Court will deliver its judgment in connection with Bilkis Bano convicts remission case on Monday, January 8. The court had earlier heard a batch of pleas that challenged the remission granted to convicts in Bilkis Bano gangrape case.
The Gujarat government had released the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, on August 15, 2022. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008.
During the post-Godhra riots in March 2002, Bano was allegedly gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara.
In October last year, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre and Gujarat government to submit the original records related to the remission granted to 11 convicts, news agency ANI had reported.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had then reserved its order on a batch of pleas filed against the remission granted to 11 convicts. They also asked the government of Centre and Gujarat to submit original records by October 16.
Bilkis Bano and others had approached the top court challenging the premature release of 11 convicts. Some PILs were filed seeking directions to revoke the remission granted to 11 convicts.
What petitioners had argued
The pleas were filed by the National Federation of Indian Women, whose General Secretary is Annie Raja, Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, social activist and professor Roop Rekha Verma and TMC MP Mahua Moitra.
The pleas said they challenged the order of competent authority of the government of Gujarat by way of which 11 persons who were accused in a set of heinous offences committed in Gujarat were allowed to walk free on August 15, 2022, pursuant to remission being extended to them.
During the hearing, advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bilkis, was quoted by ANI as saying that punishment imposed on Bilkis' rapists ought to be proportional to the nature and seriousness of the crime they had committed - which included 14 murders and three gang-rapes.
She had argued that the government did not consider the societal impact of prematurely releasing Bilkis's rapists, nor did it consider a host of other relevant factors that they were required to under the law. Gupta said 'leniency' was shown by the Gujarat government towards the convicts.
What convicts and govt argued
The Gujarat government, in its affidavit, had defended remission granted to convicts, saying they completed 14 years of sentence in prison and their "behaviour was found to be good".
The State government had also said it has considered the cases of all 11 convicts as per the policy of 1992 and remission was granted on August 10, 2022, and the Central government also approved the release of convicts.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for the Gujarat government had reiterated before that all necessary compliances had been done before granting the remission.
Advocate Rishi Malhotra, appearing for one of the convicts, told the bench that the scheme of the 1992 Gujarat remission policy did not require a unanimous or majority decision, but only a collation of the views of various stakeholders.
Meanwhile, The government had also questioned the locus standi of petitioners who filed the PIL challenging the decision saying they are outsiders to the case.
What Supreme Court observed
Earlier, the Supreme Court had questioned the Gujarat and central governments about the selective application of the pre-mature release policy for the remission of convicts who are serving jail terms. It was observed that the opportunity to reform and reintegrate into society should be given to every eligible convict.
(With inputs from ANI)
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Business NewsNewsIndiaBilkis Bano gangrape case: SC to deliver verdict on pleas challenging convicts’ remission on January 8
First Published:6 Jan 2024, 06:49 PM IST
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