The early release of Bilkis Bano’s rapists from Gujarat last year was granted by a government order that was reversed on Monday, January 8, by the Indian Supreme Court. On top of that, the court found that Bano has adequately sustained his motion to remove the remission order.
Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan voiced strong disapproval of the state government in their combined decision, saying it lacked the authority to provide the remission.
The state government cannot grant clemency since it is not a member of the compact. The remission orders need to be reversed, according to Justice Nagarathna’s ruling.
devastating incident leads to the unveiling
“We strike down the remission orders on ground of usurpation of powers by the Gujarat government,” he said. Within two weeks, eleven of the prisoners are required by the court to make an appearance before prison authorities.
The court made it clear that the remission orders could only have been granted by Maharashtra, as the defendants’ sentences were handed down in that state.
Without holding back, the court said that the state of Gujarat suppressed facts and kept the Supreme Court in the dark about the May 13, 2022 verdict that directed the Gujarat government to seek mercy for sentenced persons.
Not only was Gujarat complicit, but it collaborated closely with the convicted Respondent No. 3 in this case. This court was misled by the omission of relevant information. Justice Nagarathna ruled that the state’s seizure of authority in Gujarat constituted an abuse of power.
“Taking advantage of May 13 order of this Court .. Other convicts also filed remission applications and this Gujarat government passed remission orders.”
Bilkis Bano attempted to flee the state of Gujarat in 2002 when riots broke out there. At the age of twenty-one and five months advanced in her pregnancy, she was gang-raped as she attempted to escape her town.
A band of twenty to thirty men with sickles, swords, and clubs attacked her, her family, and her three-year-old daughter as they sought refuge in a field on March 3. By that point, she had been pregnant for five months. Her unborn child was among the fourteen relatives who died in the attack.
As a result of the worldwide outcry over the tragic death of Bilkis Bano, eleven individuals were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. An investigation by the CBI had already been mandated by the Supreme Court.
However, on August 15, which happens to be Independence Day, the Gujarat government released eleven rapists as part of its remission program last year.
When they petitioned the Supreme Court for early release, one of these inmates had already completed almost fifteen years of their terms. Sujal Mayatra, the collector of Panchmahals, presided over the panel that investigated the early release of the inmates.
Heroes met the ex-convicts upon their release, and photos emerged of several of them shaking hands with high-profile lawmakers from the state. As a consequence of their publication, there was extensive indignation from activists, members of civil society, and political opponents.
