SC rejected Bilkis Bano's review plea against the May 13 decision

Bench: Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath.

In a review petition filed by Gujarat riot gangrape survivor Bilkis Bano, challenging the Supreme Court's May 13 decision, the court ruled that the remission of convicts who raped her should be considered in accordance with the law in the state where the crime was actually committed.

A mob in Limkheda taluka of Gujarat's Dahod district killed twelve members of Bano's family in 2002, including Bano's three-year-old daughter.

Due to the fact that the trial in the case took place in Maharashtra, Bano argued that the remission policy of Maharashtra should apply to the case, rather than the 1992 Gujarat remission policy.

On May 13, the Supreme Court ruled that the remission of convicts should be considered in accordance with the policy in effect at the time of conviction in the state where the crime was committed.

According to the top court, one of the convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah @ Lala Vakil, filed a petition asking that the state of Gujarat consider his request for premature release under a policy dated July 9, 1992, which was in effect when he was convicted.

In its verdict on May 13, the Supreme Court stated that the crime was admittedly committed in Gujarat and the trial, in ordinary circumstances, should take place in the same State; under Section 432(7) CrPC, the Gujarat government would be the appropriate government.

Therefore, since the crime occurred in Gujarat, all further proceedings, including a remission request, should be handled in accordance with the Gujarat government's policy.

According to the Gujarat government's May 13 judgment, 11 convicts who gang-raped and murdered Bano's family members during the riots were given remission.

Gujarat's government released the convicts, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, ahead of the assembly polls.