Supreme Court to pronounce its judgement on the plea of Bilkis Bano challenging the remission of 11 convicts by the Gujarat govt

A Bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuvan, after hearing the arguments from both sides had on October 12 reserved its judgment on the plea filed by Bano and others, challenging the remission order of the Gujarat Government which led to an early release of 11 convicts from the jail.

The court had reserved January 8, 2024, to pronounce its judgment.

The Court had directed the Centre and the state governments to submit the original files containing the decision-making process which led to the release of convicts in 2022.

The Apex Court had in March last year issued notice to the Centre and state governments on the plea of Bano challenging the remission of 11 convicts.

A Special Court in Mumbai had found the 11 accused guilty of charges of gang rape, rioting, and others and sentenced them to life imprisonment in 2008.

This decision was upheld by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in 2017.

The allegations against the accused are that during the 2002 Gujarat riots, the 11 convicts gang raped Bano and also killed seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter.

The trial of the case was shifted from Gujarat to Mumbai and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigated the case.

Bano was 21 years old and was five months pregnant when she was gang raped. The 11 convicts allegedly killed seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The state government and the convicts, however. argued that the remission was considered after the May 2022 judgment by the Supreme Court, which directed the Gujarat government to decide the remission of one of the convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, under the 1992 remission plea within two months.

This triggered action by the state government to consider the release of all convicts under the 1992 policy, the state submitted.

The state took the opinion of the presiding judge of Godhra court on June 3, 2022, and formed a jail advisory committee, which considered the opinion of the local police, jail superintendent, and the trial court judge to recommend the release of the prisoners on August 10, 2022.

A public interest litigation was filed by former Communist Party of India MP Subhashini Ali and others challenging the remission. Later Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also joined in challenging the remission.

Bilkis Bano told the Apex court that she was not informed about the remission and came to know about it from the media. She approached the top court in November 2022 against the remission.

During arguments, advocate Shobha Gupta who appeared for Bano, and senior advocates Indira Jaising, Vrinda Grover, Aparna Bhat, and Nizam Pasha among others for the petitioners urged the court to consider laying down guidelines for consideration of remission.

They argued that remission cannot ignore the constitutional norm of the dignity of women in a case where the accused were driven by communal hatred.

The petitioners further pointed out that the grant of remission was an arbitrary exercise of power. Additional solicitor general SV Raju appearing for the Gujarat government argued that the remission was a routine process.

Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocate Rishi Malhotra appearing for the convicts argued that they do not belong to influential backgrounds and have already been out for a year now.

The criminal justice system is reformative, which seeks to integrate prisoners into society. Luthra contended that the convicts had already undergone 14 years of minimum prescribed imprisonment and their conduct in the jail was good which can be considered for their release.

(With UNI inputs)