Bilkis Bano case: Convicts can ask Maharashtra government for remission of sentences

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The Supreme Court of India ruled on Monday that the 11 convicts involved in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case and the murder of seven of her family members during communal riots in Gujarat cannot seek remission from the Gujarat government.

The court declared that the Gujarat government had overstepped its jurisdiction in granting remission and that only the Maharashtra government, where the trial was relocated to Mumbai due to safety concerns, could consider such requests in the Bilkis Bano case.

The convicts, including Bakabhai Vohania, Bipin Chandra Joshi, and others, who were prematurely released on Independence Day in 2022 after being granted remission, must now surrender within two weeks to serve their life sentences. The Supreme Court emphasized the need for the convicts to be in prison if they wish to seek remission, stating that such requests cannot be made while on bail or outside jail.

Bilkis Bano, who was 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time of the incident, had raised concerns about evidence tampering and risks to witnesses. The trial was subsequently moved from Ahmedabad to Mumbai by the Gujarat High Court. The apex court's judgment came in response to petitions, including one filed by Bilkis Bano challenging the remission granted to the convicts.

The Supreme Court, in its 251-page verdict, called for the restoration of the status quo ante and underscored the Gujarat government's lack of authority to entertain applications for remission.

Meanwhile, Mumbai trial court judge, who had sentenced them to life imprisonment on Monday said that the Supreme Court ruling cancelling the remission granted to the convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case by the Gujarat government is "path-breaking and encouraging".

Justice U D Salvi, now retired, had in 2008 convicted the 11 men in the gang-rape-cum-murder case of Gujarat, whose trial was held in Mumbai.

The 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Salvi were granted remission by the Gujarat government, leading to their premature release from a jail in the adjoining state on August 15, 2022.

This decision was challenged in the apex court by the victim, Bilkis Bano, and others.

On Monday, the SC quashed the Gujarat government's remission order and directed the convicts to surrender in two weeks.

"This is a path-breaking and encouraging judgment. It will provide a path of guidance in other cases," Justice Salvi told PTI.

The SC, in its ruling, has rightly noted that the Gujarat government had played a "fraud" and obtained the May 2022 order of the apex court asking the state government to decide on the convicts' remission plea based on an old policy existing in 1992, he said.