LI Network
Published on: January 19, 2024 at 16:51 IST
In a ruling issued on Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed the pleas of the individuals convicted in the Bilkis Bano case, who had sought an extension of time to surrender before the jail authorities.
Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, constituting the bench, rejected the applications, asserting that the reasons provided by the convicts for delaying their surrender lacked merit and did not impede compliance with the court’s directives.
The bench stated, “The reasons cited by applicants to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit in as much as those reasons in no way prevent them from complying with our directions. Hence, the miscellaneous applications are dismissed. Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed.”
The deadline for the convicts to surrender is scheduled for January 21. The 11 individuals involved in the Bilkis Bano case had approached the apex court seeking an extension, citing reasons such as health issues, caretaking responsibilities for elderly parents, and impending harvest of crops.
Previously granted remission by the Gujarat government in connection with the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots, these convicts were released in August 2022 after completing 14 years of their life imprisonment sentence.
In a significant development on January 8, the Supreme Court nullified the Gujarat government’s remission order. The court directed the convicts to surrender before jail authorities within two weeks, emphasizing that the Gujarat government lacked the authority to pass such orders, and it was the Maharashtra government’s prerogative.
The Court underscored that a previous judgment from May 13, 2022, directing the Gujarat government to consider remission based on the 1992 policy, was obtained through fraudulent means, with material facts being suppressed. Criticizing the convicts for not approaching the court with clean hands, the court described the proceedings as a result of the “suppression of facts” and deemed it a fraud perpetrated on the court.
The Supreme Court’s decision was a response to a petition filed by Bilkis Bano and others challenging the premature release of the 11 convicts.
The Gujarat government, in its defense, argued that the convicts had completed a 14-year prison sentence, and their behavior was deemed satisfactory.