SC Sought the Gujarat Government's Response on a Plea Challenging the Remission to 11 Convicts in Bilkis Bano case.

The Supreme Court sought the Gujarat government's response to a plea challenging the State's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts who had gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana and Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath issued notice and directed that the eleven convicts be impleaded as parties.

According to the bench, what it must consider is whether the convicts are entitled to remission under the Gujarat Rules and whether remission was granted with the mind. To which Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, the petitioner's counsel said that "we only want to see if the application of mind was there. A large number of people lost their lives in a communal riot. Bano along with others was escaping. Shamim delivered a child. When the group of 25 people saw Bano and others escape, they said musalmaano ko maaro. 3-year-old child's head was smashed to the ground, pregnant was raped."

The petition before the SC was filed by CPI(M) leader Subhasini Ali, independent journalist and filmmaker Revati Laul, and Roop Rekha Varma, a former philosophy professor, and activist.

Raj Kumar, Gujarat Additional Chief Secretary (Home) said that the convicts were released due to the “completion of 14 years” in jail and other factors such as age, nature of the crime, and behavior in prison.

BACKGROUND

In 2002, Bilkis Bano was gang-raped and her three-year-old daughter was among twelve people killed by a mob in Limkheda in Gujarat.

The SC ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case after Bilkis Bano approached National Human Rights Commission.

The case was transferred from Godhra in Gujarat to Maharashtra after Bano complained of death threats by the accused persons. In January 2008, a Special CBI Court convicted 13 accused, out of which eleven were sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of gang rape and murder. In May 2017, the same was upheld by the Bombay HC. After two years, the SC also directed the State of Gujarat to provide ₹50 lakh compensation to Bano and a government job.