SC to begin hearing pleas against release of Bilkis Bano case convicts next month

The Gujarat government in August last year released 11 people convicted of gang-raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family members, including her three-year-old daughter, during the 2002 riots

The Supreme Court will on August 7 begin hearing petitions against the Gujarat government’s move in August last year to release 11 people convicted of gang-raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family members, including her three-year-old daughter, during the 2002 riots.

The Supreme Court. (ANI)

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan on Monday posted the matter for hearing after the petitioners, the Gujarat government, and the lawyers for the convicts agreed that the service of notice in each of the petitions was complete and the matter can be taken up for hearing.

The court noted a submission of Bilkis Bano’s lawyer Shobha Gupta that the lone convict who did not accept notice from the police, which visited his residence in Gujarat, was also intimated of the proceedings through an advertisement in a Gujarati newspaper.

It also noted the consent of solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, on whether the matter could be taken further. The court granted three weeks to the lawyers for the accused to prepare responses.

No hearing in the court can proceed unless all parties in a case are served notices of the proceedings.The court has expressed displeasure over the matter getting dragged on account of technicalities.

Apart from Bilkis Bano, Trinamool Congress member of Parliament Mahua Moitra, and former Communist Party of India parliamentarian Subhashini Ali are among those who have challenged the grant of remission to the convicts citing the gruesome nature of the case. They pointed out that the remission policy in Gujarat does not permit allow the premature release of rape convicts.

In March, the Supreme Court called the gang rape and murder of Bilkis Bano’s family members “horrendous”.

The premature release of the convicts provoked outrage. Lawyers for Bilkis Bano and other petitioners have argued that the Maharashtra government should have dealt with the remission since the trial was conducted in Mumbai as per a 2004 Supreme Court order.

Bilkis Bano was 21 and five-month pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence during the 2002 riots. The Gujarat government in October last year told the court that the Union home ministry approved the early release of the convicts while the state took into account their “good behaviour” as a key reason to grant remission.

It said the remission was granted despite objections from the trial court judge, who convicted the 11 men, and the Central Bureau of Investigation, which investigated and prosecuted the case.