New Delhi, Nov 30, 2022: On Wednesday, Bilkis Bano filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the remission of sentence and premature release of 11 convicts who had gangraped her and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.
Bano filed a review plea against the apex court’s May order wherein they allowed the Gujarat government to apply the 1992 Remission Policy
The SC has considered listing the fresh plea of Bano. Bano’s lawyer mentioned the matter before CJI DY Chandrachud for listing following which he said that he will further examine the issue whether both the pleas can be heard together and before the same bench.
A Supreme Court bench comprising of CJI Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha observed of the submissions of lawyer Shobha Gupta that the victim herself has challenged the grant of remission and release of the convicts, and stated the matter be listed for hearing.
She further said that Justice Ajay Rastogi, who was part of the bench which had heard other similar pleas against the remission, was also part of a Constitution Bench hearing.
The CJI replied, “The review has to be heard first. Let it come before Justice Rastogi.” When the counsel for Bano urged that the matter be heard in open court, the bench held, “Only the court concerned can decide that.”
Earlier, a bench consisting of justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar had stated that it would hear a fresh plea moved by a women’s organisation, National Federation of Indian Women, contesting the remission of sentence and the release of the convicts in the case.
The men, who were earlier sentenced to life imprisonment, were released from Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy which was present in the state at the time of their conviction in 2008.
When the issue reached the apex court, the Gujarat government told the apex court on October 17 that the men had been granted early release as they had served 15 years of their life sentence and their “behaviour was found to be good”.
The Gujarat government said the decision was taken as per a 1992 remission policy issued by the apex court and not “under a circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” in an affidavit.
