The Supreme Court requested a statement from the Gujarat government on Thursday in response to a complaint contesting the pardons given to 11 criminal defendants in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The Gujarat administration was also given notice by the top court, which scheduled a hearing for two weeks later.
The Center and the state government were given notice on the argument by a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana, who also requested that the petitioners name the people who had received remission as parties in the case.
“Under Gujarat rules, are the convicts entitled to remission or not? We’ve to see whether there was application of mind in this case while granting remission,” the apex court asked.
On August 15, the Gujarat government freed 11 criminals who had received life sentences in the Bilkis Bano gang rape and murder case.
The prisoners were freed when a state government tribunal granted their request for a reduction in their sentence in accordance with a Gujarati law in effect at the time of their sentencing in 2008.
The arguments made by senior attorney Kapil Sibal and attorney Aparna Bhat against the granting of remission and the subsequent release of the defendants in the case were noted by a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana.
“We are only challenging the remission and not the Supreme Court order. The Supreme Court order is fine, My Lords. We are challenging the principles on the basis of which remission was granted,” Sibal said.
On August 19, Telangana MLC K Kavitha sent a letter to the Chief Justice of India pleading with him to intervene in the issue involving the release of 11 inmates from the Bilkis Bano rape case under the Gujarat government’s remission programme.
The Gujarat government has previously been requested by the supreme court to explore the remissionary argument.
The Sabarmati Express was ambushed in Godhra, when 59 passengers, mostly “kar sewaks,” were burned to death. On March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano, who was pregnant at the time, was gang-raped, and her three-year-old daughter Saleha was one of 14 people killed by a mob.
On January 21, 2008, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai sentenced the 11 to life in jail for the gangrape and murder of seven Bano family members. The Bombay High Court later upheld their conviction.
And on August 15, India’s Independence Day, all 11 inmates were released from the Godhra sub-jail thanks to its policy of remission. They’d spent more than 15 years behind bars.
