SC to hear on December 13 Bilkis Bano's petition challenging remission to convicts

The top court had asked the Gujarat government to consider the petition for premature release of the convicts in terms of its policy of July 9, 1992, about deciding a remission petition within a period of two months

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on December 13 a petition filed by Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and seven members of her family were killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots, challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the case by the State government.

A Bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M. Trivedi is likely to take up the petition of Ms. Bano, who has also filed a separate prayer seeking a review of the apex court's May 13, 2022, order on a plea by a convict.

The top court had asked the Gujarat government to consider the petition for premature release of the convicts in terms of its policy of July 9, 1992, about deciding a remission petition within a period of two months.

In her petition against the grant of remission which had led to the release of the convicts on August 15, Ms. Bano said the state government passed a mechanical order completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court. 

"The en masse premature release of the convicts in the much talked about case of Bilkis Bano, has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in a number of agitations across the country," she said in the plea. Referring to past verdicts, the plea said en masse remissions are not permissible and moreover, such a relief cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime. 

"The present writ petition challenging the decision of the state/central government granting remission to all the 11 convicts and releasing them prematurely in one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality by a group of human beings upon another group of human beings, all helpless and innocent people - most of them were either women or minors, by chasing them for days together persuaded by hate towards a particular community," it said.  The plea, which gave minute details of the crime, said Bano and her grown-up daughters were shell-shocked with this sudden development .

"The decision of the government came as a shock to the citizens, nationally and internationally, and the society across segments showed anger, disappointment, distrust and protested the clemency shown by the government.