The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre and Gujarat government in a petition filed by Bilkis Bano against the premature release of 11 people convicted of her gangrape and murdering her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots and called the offence “horrendous”. It will hear the case extensively on April 18.
A new bench in the Supreme Court, comprising justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna, also asked the Centre and the Gujarat government to produce files relating to the remission.
The bench took up a bunch of six petitions challenging the remission -- while one of these petitions was moved by Bano, others were filed as public interest litigation (PILs) in the wake of the outcry over the premature release of the convicts last August.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Wednesday agreed to consider setting up a new bench as Bano’s lawyer pointed out that the matter was not heard since December after one of the judges on the designated bench recused herself from the case. Under the Supreme Court rules, it is the CJI’s prerogative, as the master of the roster, to assign cases to different benches.
Bano was 21 years old and five months’ pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence during the 2002 riots, and her three-year-old daughter was one of the seven people killed.
{{/usCountry}}Bano was 21 years old and five months’ pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence during the 2002 riots, and her three-year-old daughter was one of the seven people killed.
{{/usCountry}}The 11 men convicted of the crimes against her and her family were released on August 15 after one of them, Radheshyam Shah, approached the Supreme Court in April seeking remission, arguing that he had spent over 15 years in prison in the case. By an order in May, a bench led by justice Rastogi directed the state government to consider the convicts’ plea for premature release in accordance with the 1992 policy – the one prevalent on the date of their conviction. While the existing remission policy of 2014 of the Gujarat government prohibits the early release of rape convicts, no such restrictions were a part of the 1992 policy.
Subsequently, a batch of PILs led by Ali was moved before the top court, emphasising that the crime was horrific and the convicts should have never been entitled to premature release in the public interest. A bench led by then CJI NV Ramana issued notices to the Gujarat government and the convicts in August 2022. As this bench also included justices Rastogi and Vikram Nath, the matter was listed before justice Rastogi’s bench after justice Ramana’s retirement.
Replying to these petitions, the Gujarat government filed its affidavit on October 17, and disclosed that the Union ministry of home affairs had approved the early release of the convicts while the state took into account their “good behaviour” as a key reason to grant remission.