The Supreme Court on Monday decided to hear final arguments from August 7 on pleas challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts in the case of Bilkis Bano gang-rape and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the pleadings have been completed and all the convicts have been served notices through newspaper publications or directly.
"We hold that pleadings in the matter are complete and all the respondents have been served notices in all the cases though newspaper publications or directly. We list the matter for final hearing on August 7. All parties should file short written submissions, synopsis and list of dates," the bench said.
All the 11 convicts in the case were released in August, 2022, by the Gujarat government under its remission policy as the convicts had completed 15 years in jail.
A batch of the petitions, including by Bilkis Bano, and former CPI-M MP Subhashini Ali, were filed against the premature release. In her plea, Bano claimed that the case was "one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality, persuaded by hate towards a particular community".
Published 17 July 2023, 11:55 IST
