Bilkis Bano Case: Supreme Court's Justice Bela Trivedi Opts Out Of Hearing
NDTV
Bilkis Bano was 21 and five-month pregnant when she was gang raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots that followed the Godhra train burning incident. Herthree-year-old daughter was also among the seven members of her family who were killed.
Justice Bela M Trivedi, part of the Supreme Court bench that was to hear Bilkis Bano's plea challenging the remission and release of 11 convicts in the 2002 case related to her gang rape and murder of seven members of her family on December 13, recused herself from the hearing today. The matter was hence adjourned, and will have to be listed in a new bench.
As soon as a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the matter for hearing, Justice Rastogi said that his sister judge will not like to hear the case.
"List the matter before a bench in which one of us is not a member", the bench headed by Justice Rastogi ordered.
The bench did not specify any reason for the recusal of justice Trivedi.