Bilkis Bano Case: SC Quashes Remission For 11 Rapists, Says 'Gujarat Govt Abused Its Power'

The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Gujarat government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts involved in the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Holding the plea challenging the remission as ‘maintainable’, a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that the Gujarat government had no jurisdiction to pass remission orders in case of the convicts. The top court stated that the orders of the remission were stereotyped as the convicts didn’t approach the court with clean hands.

Bilkis Bano Case: Complete Timeline of Events from 2002 Riots to SC Verdict

“The state of Gujarat acted in complicit with the convicts…it was this very apprehension which led this Court to transfer the trial out of the state,” the Supreme Court bench said.

“The rule of law is breached because the Gujarat government usurped power not vested in it and abused its power. On that ground also, the remission orders deserve to be quashed,” the bench said while pronouncing the verdict which spanned over 100 pages.

The development came after the apex court panel on October 12, 2023 reserved its verdict after an 11-day hearing on the pleas, including the one filed by Bilkis Bano.

‘Order Obtained Through Fraudulent Means’: Here’s What SC Said On Bilkis Bano Case | Top Quotes

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and were released on August 15, 2022, on the basis of an obsolete law. The release of the convicts triggered a wave of condemnation and outrage from several sections of society.

All You Need To Know About The Bilkis Bano Case:

1. Bilkis Bano, the petitioner, was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped during the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning incident in 2002. Seven of her family members, including her three-year-old daughter, were killed in the riots.
2. Bano registered a case in Gujarat, however, the trial of the case was shifted to Mumbai. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was investigating the case.
3. After years of investigation, a special court in Mumbai in 2008 sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment. The decision was upheld by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in 2017.
4. The case then attracted the headlines again on August 15, 2022 when all the 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and were released.While reserving the judgment on October 12 last year, the apex court directed the central and Gujarat governments to submit the original records related to the remission of sentence of the 11 convicts by October 16, 2023.
5. Notably, apart from the petition filed by Bano contesting the remission granted to the 11 convicts by the Gujarat government, several other PILs, including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma, have challenged the relief. TMC leader Mahua Moitra has also filed a PIL against the remission and premature release of the convicts in the case.