New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday pronounced the judgment on petitions challenging the early release of 11 convicts, sentenced to life imprisonment for raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
While slamming the Gujarat government for passing remission orders without application of mind , a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan ordered the 11 convicts to surrender back to the concerned jail authorities in Gujarat within two weeks.
Addressing media outside the Supreme Court, Advocate Vrinda Grover, who represented one of the public interest litigants challenging the remission, said the apex court judgement was a "scathing indictment" of the Gujarat state.
"(The judgment) has upheld the rule of law and the faith of the people of this country, particularly women, in rule of law, in the legal system, in courts, and that there is an assurance of justice," Grover said. The bench, she said, has stated categorically the legal analysis and reason for setting aside the remission orders and directing the convicts to return to prison within a fortnight.
"It is a scathing indictment of the state of Gujarat. The court has said that the law is clear. The appropriate government is the government where the accused are tried and sentenced as we know in the case of Bilkis Bano, which is a case emerging from the violence that took place in 2002 in Gujarat. And in this particular trial there were about 14 counts of murder, including babies and infants and gang rapes of women, including a pregnant woman," she said.
The court also said that the arbitrariness with which the discretion was exercised and the usurpation of power by the state of gujarat, for all these and more reasons, rule of law must prevail. Apart from Grover, senior Advocates Indira Jaising, and advocates Aparna Bhat, Nizamuddin Pasha, and Pratik R Bombarde also represented various public interest litigants challenging the remission.
Advocate Shobha Gupta appeared for Bilkis Bano, the rape survivor. The convicts were represented by Senior advocates Sidharth Luthra, Rishi Malhotra, S Guru Krishnakumar, Advocate Sonia Mathur, and others.
Read More
