JOIN US‘Horrendous’: SC on Bilkis Bano case, issues notice to Centre, Gujarat govt on remission
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Gujarat government on a plea by Bilkis Bano against remission granted to 11 persons serving life term after being convicted of her gang-rape and murders of her family members.
Terming the offence as "horrendous", it maintained the court would not be "overwhelmed by emotions" and decide the matter on the basis of law only.
Taking up a batch of matters, including of Bano, a new bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna also sought to know whether standards of law have been applied uniformly here as there are other cases where murder convicts are still languishing in jail.
At the outset, the bench said the court would like to know the entire gamut of issues, which would aid in knowing the framework within which the issues have to be considered.
Advocate Shobha Gupta, representing Bano, submitted that the state, in Maharashtra, where the trial was held should decide on the remission of the convicts and not the state where the offence was committed.
Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing one of the petitioners, contended that the trial judge said no remission should be granted and also the CBI said that remission should not be given, yet they were released.
On this, the bench sought to know as how many years each accused had spent in jail.
A counsel, representing one of the convicts, said over 15 years and 14 years is the requirement for consideration under the Gujarat government remission policy. However, it was contested by a counsel, representing one of the petitioners. Grover informed the court, while on parole, another case of molestation of a woman was charged against one of them and this was completely ignored while granting remission.
Advocate Rishi Malhotra on behalf of the convicts contended the top court had previously held that the Gujarat government can decide remission pleas on the basis of the 1992 policy. He also said five writ petitions filed by different social activists, including by former CPI(M) MP, had to be dismissed as they don't have locus standi in criminal matters.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A M Singhvi, however, opposed his plea.
The court issued notice in all petitions and fixed it for a hearing on April 18.
The bench also asked the parties involved in the matter to complete the pleadings by the next date of hearing and also asked the state government as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs to be ready with the relevant files connected with granting remission to the convicts on the next date of hearing.
In August 2022, all 11 convicts were granted remission by the state government, creating outrage across the country.
In May 2022, the apex court had ruled that the Gujarat government can consider the remission request of the convicts.
In November 2022, Bilkis Bano, the victim of gang rape during the 2002 Gujarat riots, herself approached the court against the state government's decision of premature release of 11 men sentenced to life term, contending it was "one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality, persuaded by hate towards a particular community".