The Supreme Court sets aside the decision by the Gujarat govt’s to grant remission to 11 convicts sentenced to life term for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano & killing her family members during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.
The Supreme Court held that not Gujarat but Maharashtra govt was competent to pass orders.
A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan delivered the verdict in the batch of petitions challenging the early release of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case.
Earlier on October 12, the Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan had reserved it’s verdict in the matter.
Bano had challenged the remission granted by the Gujarat government to 11 persons convicted for raping Bilkis Bano and murdering her family members during the Godhra riots in 2002.
The State of Gujarat had granted remission to the convicts following the May 2022 judgement of the Supreme Court, which held that an application of remission should be considered in line with the policy of the State where the crime was committed and not where the trial was held.
Though the crime took place in Godhra of Gujarat, trial in the case had taken place in Maharashtra.
The 11 convicts set free by Gujarat government are Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhyesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.
Gujarat Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Raj Kumar had reportedly 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, behaviour in prison and so on”.
This decision of the Gujarat government was challenged by various petitioners, including Bano, before the Apex Court.
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