Bilkis Bano Case: Supreme Court overturns Gujarat government's remission, convicts asked to surrender back to jail

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice B.V Nagarathna on Monday overruled the remission granted to the 11 convicts by the Gujarat government in connection to the Bilkis Bano gang rape and murder case, in the aftermath of the 2002 Godhra riots. Terming it a "fraudulent act", the apex court stated that the state "was not competent" to pronounce such a decision. The SC has directed all the convicts to surrender back to prison within two weeks.

The Supreme Court announced its verdict while hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Gujarat government's order, releasing the 11 convicts serving life sentences ahead of schedule. The bench also mentioned that Bilkis Bano's petition challenging the premature release of the 11 convicts was valid. Before Bilkis Bano personally approached the Supreme Court, several petitions were filed in the public interest, contesting the Gujarat government's decision. Among the petitioners were Subhashini Ali, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), professor Rooplekha Verma, journalist Revati Laul, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, former IPS officer Meeran Chadha Borwankar, and the National Federation of Women.

The Supreme Court strongly criticized one of the convicts for withholding crucial information. "By suppressing material facts and making misleading facts, a direction was sought by a convict to the state of Gujarat to consider remission. There was no direction from this court to the Gujarat government to consider remission. This is a fraud act," observed the Supreme Court.

The bench stated that the Gujarat government lacked the authority to issue the order for the premature release of the convicts, as the competent government authorized to make such decisions was Maharashtra, where the trial took place. "The government of the state (Maharashtra) where the offender was sentenced is the appropriate government to grant remission and not the government of the state (Gujarat) where the offence took place," said the apex court.

The court criticized the Gujarat government for issuing the remission order in August 2022 in a routine and thoughtless manner. The Supreme Court stated that the convicts should submit a new plea for remission to the Maharashtra government. Justice BV Nagarathna, delivering the judgment, emphasized that the Supreme Court should serve as a guiding force in preserving the rule of law.

On October 12 last year, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment after 11 days of extensive hearing. Throughout the proceedings, both the Centre and the Gujarat government presented authentic documents about the premature release of the convicts' sentences.

The 11 convicts who were released ahead of schedule are Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhyesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt, and Ramesh Chandana. They were released on August 15, 2022, following 15 years of imprisonment, taking into account factors such as their age and conduct during their time in custody.

In 2002, at the age of 21 and five months pregnant, Bilkis Bano was brutally gang raped while attempting to escape the riots triggered by the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat. Fourteen members of her family were killed, including her 3-year-old daughter.